Bubble Wrap
by llamaswithbowties
Summary: Blaine Anderson is a new student at McKinley who is immediately taken with Kurt Hummel. Kurt has a boyfriend, but Blaine can tell there's something wrong with the relationship. He's seen it before and knows he has to help Kurt out of this situation. He doesn't want what he's seen happened before to happen to Kurt.
1. Chapter 1

The halls of McKinley were scary. They were full of large jocks with menacing glares and petite cheerleaders whose eyes scoured the halls for people to judge. Students hurried from class to class, clutching books to their chests and avoiding eye contact with anyone above them on the food chain. Of course, this was probably a usual scene in a typical high school, but to new student, Blaine Anderson, it was terrifying. After the year of private school that he had attended, public school was like entering a cage full of lions.

Blaine's eyes glanced down at the schedule he held; his classes were printed in a neat grid and his name and locker number, 125, were written in curly handwriting at the top. He'd been sure to memorise where his classes were on the map that the obviously bored receptionist, who had looked rather annoyed about the fact that Blaine had interrupted her nail filing, had given him, so that he didn't have to walk around all day with a map held in front of his face.

He came to a halt at his locker and yanked at the lock in order to get his possessions in it and get to class as soon as possible. The hallways were making him claustrophobic and he dreaded the embarrassment he'd face if he had to walk in late to his first class.

Already, Blaine hated McKinley. As optimistic a person he was, he couldn't see himself enjoying being at this school as much as he enjoyed being at Dalton. At Dalton he had friends, acceptance, a reason to belong. He could tell McKinley wasn't going to offer him any of these things.

He'd grabbed his books for his morning classes, tucking his timetable and map into one for safe keeping, and began striding in the direction of his first class. He was so determined to get to lesson that he didn't concentrate on dodging other students and his shoulder soon came into contact with another, sending the student's books flying to the ground. Immediately Blaine knelt to help the student pick up the books.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going. So sorry," he quickly apologised, stacking the books on top of each other before glancing up at who he'd just helped. He wasn't expecting the sight that he met.

The first thing he saw were his eyes. Two beautiful orbs of blue, green and grey, the colours swirling together; it was like looking into the ocean. The eyes were set into a gorgeous face, flawless, porcelain skin on high cheek bones and a proud nose and around perfect pink lips. The boys hair was chestnut brown, styled with care into a fantastic quiff. Blaine's sight found the boys eyes again, which were now swimming with confusion. It took a moment to realise that he was still knelt on the floor, staring at the boy.

Blaine quickly stood, holding the books out to the boy with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry," he whispered, cursing his voice for coming out so quietly.

"No, it's fine," the boy replied. Blaine hadn't been expecting his voice to be so beautiful, high and melodic. "Thanks for helping me pick them up." The boy paused, his head tilting slightly as he assessed Blaine's features. "Are you new? I haven't seen you around."

Blaine nodded, before answering, forcing his voice to return to normal. "Yes, first day."

"Ah, well in that case, welcome to McKinley. Senior?"

"Junior, actually," Blaine corrected him.

"Oh, me too. You just looked older." The boy paused, his expression indecisive before he thrust a hand in front of Blaine. "Kurt Hummel."

"Blaine Anderson," Blaine replied, taking Kurt's hand, revelling in the feel of Kurt's soft, delicate fingers against his.

All too soon, Kurt took his hand back and wrapped his arm protectively around the books resting against his chest. "Nice to meet you Blaine Anderson. What class do you have first?"

"English, Room 203, Mrs McGrew," Blaine recited.

"Looks like we have class together," Kurt said. "I'll walk you there. Wouldn't want you getting lost on the first day."

Blaine smiled at Kurt, choosing not to mention that he had memorised his way or that he actually had a map in his book. "Thanks, I appreciate it!"

"Let me just put my maths book in my locker and I'll be right with you." Kurt stepped behind Blaine and went to open locker 128, just three lockers from Blaine. He quickly put some books into his locker and turned to walk with Blaine.

"So, are you going to join any clubs?" Kurt asked as they began their journey to the class.

"Well, I think it's a little too late to join any sports teams, but I'd love to do football. Maybe next year, though. But, I was part of the glee club at my old school so I'll have to see if they have one here."

"They do," Kurt assured him immediately. "Erm, I mean, McKinley has a glee club. The New Directions. I'm actually a part of it."

"You sing?"

"Countertenor."

Blaine let out a low whistle. "Wow, we never had a countertenor. You must get like, all the solos."

"Not necessarily," Kurt said, avoiding eye contact for a moment. "I don't really like to be put in the spotlight."

"The spotlight can put a lot of pressure on you," Blaine commented.

"You sound like you talk from experience."

"I was actually the lead singer of my glee club."

"You must be good. I must warn you though, if you're good Rachel will hound you until you do a duet with her. After her and Finn broke up she's been looking for someone else who can keep up with her vocally," Kurt explained.

"I'll be sure to remember that," Blaine said as they came to a pause at class 203.

"This is us." Kurt shot Blaine a dazzling smile that left Blaine's head spinning slightly. Kurt pushed the door open and entered the classroom, which was already nearly full. Kurt went to take his usual seat at the back, leaving Blaine standing at the front, unsure of where to sit. Once Kurt was sat down, he looked to the front at the confused Blaine. He bit his lip before gesturing for Blaine to come and sit next to him.

"No one sits here?" Blaine asked.

"No," Kurt said with a small smile playing at his lips.

Blaine sat at the desk, a grin spreading across his face. Maybe McKinley wouldn't be that bad.

* * *

"So, will you be coming to glee tonight after school? Mr Schue will most likely let you audition there and then, but if not then you can just check out the club and see if you fancy it," said Kurt once they'd left English.

"I might just take you up on that offer," Blaine replied. "I'll just have to ask my parents, but I don't think they'd mind."

"Great! So what class do you have now?"

"Chemistry, Room 187, Mr Hargreaves," Blaine recited, picturing his timetable.

"Ah, you'll love Mr Hargreaves. He teaches great lessons. I had him last year," Kurt said with a grin. He went to continue, but squealed in surprise instead when a pair of arms wound their way around his waist.

"Hey, Kurt. Who's this?"

A head came to rest on Kurt's shoulder and Blaine moved his gaze to look at the new face. His sight met a boy with deep green eyes, sandy brown hair and a fantastic jaw line. The position that the boy was in showed that he was tall, a couple of inches taller than Kurt, and even though Blaine could see little of his arms, he looked muscular. There was no mistaking the red letterman jacket he wore. This guy was a jock. A gorgeous jock who still had his arms around Kurt's waist.

Kurt's grin disappeared, his eyes immediately widened and the sparkle in his eye seemingly dimmed. Blaine tried not to frown at the noticeable change.

"H-hey, Alex. This is Blaine. He's new and was interested in joining glee. I was just telling him what he needed to know" Kurt answered, his answer seeming strangely specific to Blaine.

Alex looked up at Blaine, as if to get him to confirm what Kurt had said. Blaine smiled at him with a nod which seemed to please Alex.

"You look like the kind that would join glee," Alex said, his eyes sweeping Blaine's polo shirt and Capri pants. He wasn't sure whether Alex was simply stating a fact or attempting to insult him. Either way, he ignored it and just smiled at the taller boy.

"Well it'll take up my time whilst I wait for sports try outs," Blaine clarified.

"_You _play sports?" Alex asked in surprise, the corners of his mouth turning up into a mocking grin.

"Yeah. Well, my old school wasn't very big on sport but I played a lot out of school. Football, baseball, soccer, boxing," Blaine said.

"Oh, cool," Alex said, clearly not convinced. "Well, I guess I might be seeing you in the locker room... Shane, was it?"

"Blaine," he corrected. "Blaine Anderson."

"Good to meet you, Blaine Anderson. Alex Hughes; quarterback of the football team and," his eyes narrowed at Blaine, "boyfriend of Kurt Hummel."

Blaine tried not to let the disappointment show. Yes, he'd spent most of English wondering whether Kurt was gay. Yes, he'd already began to form a crush on the boy. Apparently someone had gotten in earlier and this someone wasn't exactly the guy Blaine imagined Kurt would be into.

"Oh, great," Blaine said, attempting to sound positive, but he sounded more sarcastic.

"You coming to French, Kurt?" Alex asked, turning his attention to the boy in his arms.

"Yeah, of course. I'll see you later, Blaine. In glee club," Kurt said.

"I don't suppose you'll meet me at your locker, would you? I don't really know where I'm going," Blaine requested.

"Oh, of course you don't. Yes, I'll see you there!"

"Thanks. Later, Kurt!"

"Nice meeting you, Blaine," Alex called, spitting Blaine's name venomously as he and Kurt separated.

It looked like in his first few hours at McKinley, Blaine had made a friend and an enemy.

* * *

The rest of the day rushed by. Blaine had spent his lunch with a girl called Tina and her boyfriend Mike, who he'd originally struck up conversation with when she mentioned glee club in their shared Maths class.

"So have you met anyone else nice?" she asked.

"Erm, I ran into, literally, Kurt Hummel this morning. We shared a class so he walked me there and I sat next to him. He seems very nice, do you know him?"

"You spoke to Kurt?" Tina questioned with a tone of surprise.

"Yeah. He seemed really nice."

"Oh, I see," Tina mumbled.

"Why? Is that unusual?" Blaine asked.

"Sort of. Kurt's been distant lately. He avoids talking to any of us and we're his closest friends. He usually just spends his time with Alex and stays in the background," Tina explained.

"Oh, how long has he been like that?"

"A couple of months, I guess," Tina shrugged.

Blaine took a bite of his sandwich before asking, "Out of curiosity, how long have Kurt and Alex been dating?"

"Erm, about three months?" she answered, looking at her boyfriend for confirmation. Mike nodded. "Yeah, about three months."

Blaine nodded and continued to eat, allowing the conversation to swerve into other topics, but Kurt didn't leave his mind.

* * *

When he got to his locker later that day, Kurt was already there. With Alex. Blaine didn't approach immediately and managed to catch their conversation.

"I can't believe you're waiting for him. He's just as much a loser as you are!" Alex said in a hushed voice, obviously unaware that Blaine could hear him.

"It's his first day and he doesn't know where the choir room is," Kurt argued, not meeting his boyfriend's gaze. Blaine froze. They were talking about him.

"Let him find his own way then!"

"Why do you have a problem with him, anyway?"

"I just didn't like how he was looking at you, like you were a model or something. He obviously can't see that you belong to me." Perhaps the statement was meant to be sweet, but instead all Blaine heard was the venom and anger in his voice.

"Look, I don't even know if he's gay. He probably isn't."

"Kurt, he was wearing Capri pants. He's joining glee club. And he was looking at you like you're actually worth something. He screams homo," Alex laughed. Blaine frowned. Why would Kurt let him say such things? "I'm telling you he better not try anything. You know what happens if you let him try anything, don't you Kurt?" Alex's voice had dropped to a slightly more threatening tone. Blaine could see Kurt gulp as he nodded his head enthusiastically, but didn't speak. "Good. See you tomorrow. You're coming to mine after school." And with that, Alex left, leaving Kurt staring at the locker in front of him, his eyes wide, and Blaine a little more certain of what was going on with Kurt.


	2. Chapter 2

Blaine didn't mention to Kurt what he'd witnessed. He decided that he'd keep his eye out for Kurt, but thought that bringing it up might cause Kurt to become more distant with him. Instead he just strolled up to Kurt, who was staring at the locker ahead with wide eyes, and greeted him with a, "Hey, Kurt!" Kurt smiled at him and the evidence of the previous scene left his eyes.

When they got to the choir room, Blaine was met with a series of different greetings. Tina with a, "Hi, Blaine!", Mike with a, "Sup, dude?" and an unfamiliar petite brunette who yelled, "SPY!" as soon as Blaine entered.

Blaine looked from Kurt to the rest of occupants of the choir room. Kurt just mouthed 'Rachel' and Blaine nodded to gesture his understanding.

"What are you talking about, Rachel?" said a blonde girl in a Cheerios uniform.

"He's a spy, Quinn!" said Rachel.

"No, he's not, Rachel," Tina argued. "He's a new student."

"But he's lead of the Warblers! What's he doing here?"

Kurt raised his eyebrows at Blaine. "You never told you you were lead of the _Warblers_! You kicked our asses at regionals last year!"

"I didn't mention that I came from Dalton?" Blaine asked.

"Nope. But this is even worse. You were amazing at regionals. There's no way Rachel is going to give you a minutes peace now," Kurt said.

"That doesn't sound good," Blaine said.

Kurt was right. Mr Schue let Blaine audition there and then with a fantastic rendition of It's Not Unusual by Tom Jones and almost as soon as the applause had died down, Rachel was listing duets that Blaine and her could sing.

"I'm not sure how educated you are in musical theatre, but I think our voices are perfect together for Tonight from West Side Story! I'm sure I have the sheet music lying around my room somewhere in case you don't know it," she rambled.

"Erm, I know it actually. I'll consider it. Thank you, Rachel," Blaine quickly dismissed before taking a seat next to Kurt at the back of the choir room.

"Okay, guys," Mr Schue began. "I'm sure we're all excited about our new member, Blaine Anderson, but we should get on with this weeks assignment!" Mr Schue ran to the whiteboard, pulling out a marker, and scrawled the words 'DUETS' across it. A few whoops and cheers came from the club. "Blaine couldn't have come at a more appropriate time as this now evens out our numbers! I want you to all pair up and prepare a duet to perform either sometime this week or at the beginning of next week."

Blaine panicked for a moment. Who could he pair up with? Surely everyone already had duet partners and he'd be stuck with whoever was left. However, his worries were answered when Kurt tapped him on the upper arm with a smile.

"I usually skip out of these, but beings as you need a partner and you're new, want to pair up?" Kurt asked with an unsure smile. Blaine nodded and returned a confident smile. He ignored the fact that Rachel was glaring at Kurt and the others were all staring with slightly shocked expressions.

"Can you come to mine to practise tomorrow after school?" Blaine asked.

"Oh, I er- I can't tomorrow, I'm going to Alex's," Kurt said, his voice wavering slightly. Blaine tried not to let his face show his worry.

"Wednesday, then?"

"I can do that. Here, put your number in my phone and I'll text you to make arrangements," Kurt offered, pulling out his phone and setting up a new contact for Blaine. Blaine quickly put his number in and saved it, smiling at Kurt and trying to ignore the tug he felt on his heart.

* * *

After glee, Kurt rushed straight off to the car park with a quick goodbye in Blaine's direction. Blaine was still packing things into his bag and didn't notice practically the whole club surrounding him. Only when he turned did he notice them.

"How did you do that?" the boy in the wheelchair asked immediately.

"Do what?" said Blaine.

"You know what, hobbit," said the latino cheerleader that he was sure was called Santana. "Hummel's being all nice with you and pairing up with you for duets. How did you get him to do that?"

"I don't know. He just … was," said Blaine.

"Well," Rachel said, "something's going on with him. Do you know what it is? He hasn't talked to us properly in months!"

"I did notice that something's going on but I don't know what it is. We did only meet this morning. But I'm keeping an eye out for him," Blaine assured them.

"You'd better. As much as Hummel's acting weird and not freeing his gay magic nowadays, he's still one of us and we look out for each other," Puck, the mohawked teen, input.

"I'll do my best," Blaine said. He nodded to the group and they dispersed as he went to leave.

"Hey, Blaine, wait up!" a voice called from behind him as he left.

"How can I help, Rachel?" he greeted the girl.

"Well, I can assure you that we have vocal chemistry as well as being perfect heights for one another, and as a newly single and a very talented female, I believe the other members of glee will expect us to become an item. So, I propose you come to my house so that we can test our voices together and plan a date. What do you think?" Rachel announced.

Blaine stared at her, wondering whether what he'd just witnessed actually happened or not. Kurt wasn't kidding about Rachel and her diva tendencies.

"Oh, wow. Rachel, I'm flattered, really. I know you're lovely and I'm sure your voice is just as lovely, but I don't think you're my type," Blaine quickly defended.

"And what would your type be?" Rachel asked.

"Boys," Blaine said, bluntly.

"Oh," said Rachel. "I guess I should have seen that one coming. All the good ones are gay or taken. Figures. Catch you later, Blaine Warbler."

Blaine sighed as Rachel flounced off, leaving Blaine questioning the situation he'd just witnessed.

* * *

"I'm home!" Blaine called when he walked in through the front door.

"In here, Blaine!" he heard a voice call back. He abandoned his shoes and bag near the front door and walked into the living room where his parents sat, his dad, Andrew, reading the newspaper and his mom, Linda, sewing the hem of a skirt.

"Hey, sweetie, how was school?" asked Linda. Andrew put down his newspaper and looked up to hear Blaine's answer.

"It was good. Better than I expected," Blaine answered truthfully.

"That's great! And I assume you've made friends as you've already joined glee club!" Linda responded.

"Yeah, I kind of literally ran into a guy this morning and, after I helped him pick his books back up, we got talking. He's in the glee club and when I mentioned that I sang he invited me along and they gave me an audition. I spent lunch with this girl, Tina, and her boyfriend, Mike, who are also both in glee. They're all really nice," Blaine assured them.

"That's great, son," Andrew commented. "Did you find out about football tryouts?"

"Well, they've already had tryouts, but the guys in glee who are on the team have said they'll see if they can put in a good word for me," Blaine said.

"Ah, that's good. I wish you luck," Andrew said.

"Thanks, dad. Erm, do you mind if I go call Wes? I told him I would when I got in to tell him if he needed to send some Warblers to save me, and I'm already pretty late," Blaine asked.

Linda chuckled and said, "Sounds like something Wes would say. Go ahead, sweetie. Dinner will be done in about an hour."

Blaine smiled at them and rushed up the stairs, phone already in hand for when he entered his room. As soon as he dialed the number, Wes answered.

"Blaine?"

"Hey, Wes. How's it going?"

"You have had me worried sick!" Wes exclaimed. "I was expecting your call an hour ago. I thought that the McKinley kids had turned wild and decided to skin you alive or something."

"Thanks, Wes. I'm glad your thoughts of me are pleasant," Blaine commented sarcastically.

"So how was your first day? And why are you so late calling?"

"My day was good. Better than I thought it would be. And I was late because I was at glee club," Blaine explained.

"Glee club already? You're obviously eager to replace us," Wes teased.

"I could never replace you guys. And yeah, already. I ran into this guy this morning and we got chatting and I mentioned I was in the glee club at my old school. He's in the glee club so he offered to take me along and see if I could audition and I could," Blaine said.

"A glee club guy, huh? Was it by any chance a cute glee club guy?"

"Seriously, Wes?"

"What? Wasn't he cute?"

"Yes. He was freakin' gorgeous. Probably the most gorgeous guy I've ever seen. That wasn't, however, what influenced my decision to join glee," Blaine assured him.

"Most gorgeous guy you've ever seen? Does that mean Anderson will finally be getting some?" Wes teased.

"You suck."

"And glee club boy doesn't?" Blaine could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

"Oh shut up, Wesley. No I will not be getting some!" Blaine said.

"Why? He straight? Uninterested? Blind?" Wes asked.

"Not straight, I have no idea about uninterested, certainly not blind, but very much taken." Blaine explained.

"Ah, you really don't sound happy about that," Wes commented.

"I'm not. Not because he's dating someone else, because I honestly don't mind. I mean, I only met him today. But the guy he's dating kind of seems like a dick. I'm not sure what's going on with him, but from what I've seen he doesn't treat Kurt right. He was moaning at him today, about me actually, saying how he didn't like me and how I'm just as much a loser as Kurt. Not in banter or anything, really serious. I don't like the way he treats Kurt and I'm kind of worried about the relationship they're in. What if what happened to _her_ is going on with him?" Blaine didn't need to elaborate. His best friend knew what he was talking about immediately.

"All you can do, Blaine, is keep an eye out for him. If you see anything else happen, just talk to him. And I assume Kurt is cute glee club guy? That saves the long nickname," Wes said.

"Yes, it is. So you think I should just keep an eye out for him?"

"That's all you can do, dude. And try not to get distracted by his pretty eyes or whatever it is about him that turns you into a teenage girl," Wes chuckled.

"Shut up!"

"Never. You still love me. So, c'mon. Tell me more about glee club!"


	3. Chapter 3

Besides a few texts so that Blaine had Kurt's number, they didn't speak again until Wednesday. Blaine spent lunch the next day with some of the boys from glee including Finn, Puck, Sam and Artie. Kurt once again was absent at lunch, but Blaine didn't question it in case he looked too obvious. The boys chatted football, Finn mentioning that the football coach, Coach Bieste, was still looking for a half decent kicker and if Blaine wanted to he could try out.

Blaine was grateful to find that on Wednesday he shared a history class with Kurt. However, his mood dampened when he noticed who Kurt was sitting next too. Alex. He took a seat behind them, a quick smile sent in Kurt's direction. Kurt's lips twitched slightly, but he almost immediately looked back down at his notebook where he appeared to be doodling. Blaine did catch him after class, however. Alex lent down and whispered something in his ear that Blaine didn't catch, and stormed off down the corridor. Kurt and Blaine agreed that after school, they would meet outside so that Kurt could follow Blaine in his car back to Blaine's house.

After school they did just that, chatting as they made their way to their vehicles. Blaine noticed that Kurt's grin was back, which in itself made Blaine's mood lighter.

They reached Blaine's house and, after abandoning their shoes at the door, Blaine led them into the kitchen.

"Would you like a drink? Or a snack if you're hungry?" Blaine offered. Kurt didn't answer for a moment, too busy staring around Blaine's kitchen in awe.

"Just water please," he mumbled. As Blaine unloaded two glasses from the cupboard, Kurt asked, "Where are your parents?"

"Oh, they're at work. They'll be home in about half hour," Blaine answered.

"I see. You're kitchen is amazing," said Kurt.

"You think?" asked Blaine, looking around the room itself. "I don't really cook so I don't know what half of this does." He gestured to the gadgets and gizmos spread around the kitchen worktops.

"I have to cook for my dad so I'm a bit of a culinary nerd. Well, my dad's girlfriend, Carole, has been cooking for him recently. I think she feels it's not my duty to cook or something, but I enjoy it. I could certainly do with a lot of these," Kurt explained.

"That's pretty cool. I wish I could cook. The best I can do is spaghetti bolognese. It's the only dish I'm practiced in as I make it for my parents every year on their anniversary."

"That's really sweet of you," Kurt commented.

"Thanks. Want to work upstairs?" asked Blaine, taking his and Kurt's glasses. Kurt nodded, squeezing the strap of his bag. He followed Blaine upstairs and was led into Blaine's room.

Blaine's room was almost exactly what he was expecting. The walls were cobalt blue and held many decorations including canvas pictures and a clock made from an old record. His bed sat in the middle of one wall, covered with a white and blue check duvet. Around it were cube shaped shelves covered in books, photos, music speakers, sheet music and trophies. A TV was hung on the wall opposite and underneath was a desk which held Blaine's laptop, school books and pens.

"I like your room," Kurt commented.

"Thanks," said Blaine. "Remind me to show you the music room later."

"You have a music room?" asked Kurt.

"Yeah. We had a spare room and our piano was taking up a lot of space in the dining room, so we moved it there, but we decided it looked a bit empty with just a big piano in the middle of a room, so we decorated it and added my guitars and keyboard and violin," Blaine explained.

"Wow. You play all of those?"

Blaine nodded an affirmative. "I've also been known to play a mean triangle," he joked. Kurt nudged him with his elbow and grinned. "Anyway, what shall we do for our duet? I'm sure we'll find something that'll sound great with both our voices."

"Want to trade iPods and see if we can find any common songs?" Kurt asked.

"Sure," said Blaine, reaching over his bed to grab his iPod, which was already plugged into his speakers. He offered it to Kurt who handed over his iPod in return. They scrolled through their songs in silence, each commenting every so often with an "awful lot of Wicked on here" or "do you really have a playlist dedicated to Katy Perry?". Blaine perked up when he found a song that he knew he had on his own iPod and knew very well.

"Hey, how about Candles by Hey Monday!? I love that song!" Blaine suggested.

"I like," Kurt commented. "From your iPod I expected you to pick something a little more top 40, to be honest." Blaine didn't reply, just stuck his tongue out childishly at Kurt, which elicited a chuckle from the boy. "We should get the lyrics and highlight them to show who's singing what."

"I'll print them," Blaine said, going over to his laptop and starting it up. He found the lyrics online and printed them, running downstairs to collect the prints. They started by splitting the song up between them and highlighted in different colours the parts they'd be singing.

Not long after, the front door slammed and the boys heard a voice call up, "We're home!"

"In my room, mom!" Blaine called back. He then looked at Kurt with a smile and said, "When we've finished this, I'll go top up our drinks and introduce you."

They finished splitting the song in no time and, as Blaine suggested, went downstairs to top up their drinks and so that Kurt could meet Blaine's parents. He found his parents in the kitchen unloading shopping. As they entered, Blaine made their presence known by greeting them with, "Hey mom, dad." His parents turned to smile at them.

Blaine's parents were nothing like Kurt was expecting, in the sense that they looked nothing like Blaine. Blaine's mother was about the same height as Blaine with deep green eyes, sandy blonde hair which was swept up in an elaborate style, and soft features. Blaine's father also had light hair, a light brown closer to Kurt's colour than Blaine's and his eyes were a muddy brown. Both looked mid to late thirties, younger than his own father. But overall, he had no idea where Blaine got his dark hair and hazel eyes from.

"Hey, honey! And you must be Kurt! Lovely to meet you," Blaine's mother greeted them immediately. She rushed over, dragging her husband behind her, and offered a hand for Kurt to shake.

"It's lovely to meet you Mrs Anderson, Mr Anderson," Kurt said, nodding at each parent in turn.

"Call us Linda and Andrew, son," insisted Andrew, reaching for Kurt's hand to shake after Linda had dropped it.

"It's lovely to meet you Linda and Andrew," Kurt corrected himself.

"Will you be staying for dinner, honey?" asked Linda.

Kurt glanced at Blaine and then looked between the two parents as he said, "Oh, I wouldn't want to intrude."

"Nonsense. It'll be nice to have a new face around the table for once, right Blaine?" Linda said.

"Yeah. Stay, Kurt," said Blaine, grinning at his friend.

"I- er, sure," Kurt answered, almost nervously. "Dad has Carole making him dinner so I guess it'll save me making something when I get home." He finished with an unsure smile.

"Great," said Linda, enthusiastically.

"I'm just going to get us some drinks and then I believe we're going upstairs to practice our duet," Blaine informed them, winking at Kurt. Kurt just chuckled at his friend, leaving Blaine to marvel at the sound.

* * *

An hour or so later, the two boys went down for dinner. Blaine was still admiring the memory of Kurt's voice. He knew Kurt would have a great voice; listening to his talking voice and the knowledge of him being a countertenor was enough to know that, but he didn't know how great it would be. His voice was just as beautiful as he was and it fit so perfectly with Blaine's.

After the talk of glee had died down at dinner, Blaine mentioned, "Oh, yeah, dad. I was talking to some of the guys from glee and the football coach is looking for a kicker if I want to try out."

"That's great, son!" exclaimed Andrew.

"Following in my footsteps, Blaine?" chuckled Kurt. Blaine furrowed his eyebrows in confusion at Kurt's statement so Kurt clarified, "I had a stint as kicker in my sophomore year."

"Never thought you were the type to play football," admitted Blaine.

"I'm not. It's a long story and I only played one game, which was actually the only game they won that season, but of course I put my own twist on it."

"And that was?"

"Erm, I taught the whole team the dance to Single Ladies by Beyoncé and they danced to throw the other team off. I also used it to help when I kicked the ball," Kurt mumbled, ducking his head slightly.

The whole table laughed and Blaine asked, "They actually went with it?"

"They weren't very happy, but the coach at the time told them they had to," Kurt said. "They were quite good actually. I didn't play football after that, but I'm always kept up to date. Especially now that my half step-brother is on the team."

"Half step-brother?" asked Andrew.

"Oh, my dad's girlfriend's son, Finn. He's not quite my step-brother yet, but I know for a fact that my dad has been looking at engagement rings so it's only a matter of time," Kurt explained.

"Finn is Carole's son?" asked Blaine. "I didn't know that."

"Don't worry. Carole's a lot smarter than Finn," Kurt joked. Blaine chuckled.

Linda went to ask Kurt something else when the sound of Defying Gravity rang out through the dining room. Kurt gave the family an apologetic look and took out his phone, quickly answered with an "I'll call you back," and hung up, setting it to silent. "Sorry," he said.

Linda went on to ask Kurt about McKinley and Kurt answered with a smile, ignoring the fact that his phone was vibrating loudly in his pocket.

"You sure you don't want to take that? Whoever it is must be dying to get to you," Andrew offered.

Kurt shook his head and said, "No, it's fine. I don't want to be rude."

"Your dad?" asked Blaine.

"No, erm, Alex actually. I forgot to tell him I was coming here so he probably expects me to be at home," Kurt explained, not meeting Blaine's eyes.

"Good friend?" asked Linda.

"Boyfriend," Blaine corrected them.

"They as cute as Niff?" questioned Linda.

"Niff are pretty difficult to beat in the category of cuteness," Blaine chuckled.

"Niff?" asked Kurt.

"My friends from my old school, Nick and Jeff. They've been together for as long as anyone can remember and they're the most adorable couple ever. They come as a package deal so people got tired of calling them Nick and Jeff and shortened them to Niff," Blaine explained.

"That in itself is pretty adorable," Kurt commented, but he didn't appear comfortable on the subject. He took a bite of chicken and looked up to Blaine's parents. "This chicken is amazing. What did you do to it?" he asked, effectively changing the subject.

Linda went on to talk about seasonings and cooking techniques which gave Blaine time to watch as Kurt became more comfortable. He was certain now that his theories about Alex were correct, but he didn't want to ask Kurt. Kurt was just beginning to become his friend and if it was brought up then he might shut Blaine out and avoid him. Blaine didn't want that at all.

When they'd finished dinner, Kurt excused himself to go to the bathroom, so Blaine decided he'd go set up the music room to show to Kurt. After taking his plate into the kitchen he hurried along the landing to the music room, but paused when he heard mumbling coming from the bathroom. He didn't want to eavesdrop, but he was very curious so he stopped and listened.

"I told you I'm sorry, Alex, but I didn't want to be rude," he heard Kurt mumble, his voice sounding nervous. There was a pause as he waited for Alex's response. "No it wasn't just my dad, I'm not home... I'm at Blaine's... No, no, no, it's nothing like that, we're just practicing for a duet for glee... No, I am not telling him it's off, we've already finished preparing it... Please, Alex, I promise nothing is going to happen... Okay... I-I understand." At this point he heard a sniff and hoped Kurt wasn't crying. "Okay, I'll talk to you when I get home... Bye, bye."

Blaine was fixed to the spot in worry after what he'd just heard and had to practically run to the music room when he realised Kurt would be exiting the bathroom anytime soon. Sure enough, just as he reached the door of the music room, Kurt emerged from the bathroom. Blaine called him over and Kurt smiled at him as he walked into the room.

Blaine tried to ignore his red rimmed eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

Kurt was avoiding him. That was the only conclusion that Blaine could come to. After Kurt had gone into the music room, they'd spent a while messing around with the keyboard and piano, Kurt stating that he'd never missed a lesson as a child, and Blaine had even played him some guitar. They practiced their duet again, Kurt's voice sounding as beautiful as always, but there was something off about him. Then Kurt had left and had avoided Blaine ever since. He had busied himself with work in English, avoided eye contact with Blaine in history, turned up late to glee so Blaine couldn't talk to him and ignored the texts Blaine had sent him asking if he was okay. It was the exact thing that Blaine hadn't wanted to happen.

When Monday came around again, Blaine decided he _had_ to talk to Kurt. Sure they hadn't even been friends for a week, but Blaine worried about Kurt. His theories of what was wrong were playing on his mind and he hated it. The situation seemed so familiar to him and he worried that if he didn't help soon, it would be too late.

He got to English, determined that he would talk to Kurt. He sat down at his desk, books, paper and pen ready so that he didn't have to go through his bag and waste any time that he might have talking to Kurt. And then he waited. He waited as other students piled into the classroom. He waited as the teacher entered. He waited as the lesson began. He waited and waited, but Kurt didn't show. Blaine groaned in frustration when the bell went, signalling the end of the class. That meant he wasn't going to get to talk to Kurt that lesson. That also meant the only time he knew he'd see Kurt, if Kurt was at school, was during glee and that wasn't until the very end of the day.

At lunch, Blaine's worries were building up, so he decided to call Kurt. He had to know that he was okay. The first time he rang, Kurt didn't answer, but the second time he picked up after a few rings.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Kurt? Hi! Where are you?"

"I'm at home, Blaine. Why?"

"I was just worried when you didn't show up to lesson. Why are you at home?"

"Oh, I'm sick. And you don't have to worry about me. I'm fine, honestly," Kurt assured him.

"Well, can I come see you after school?" Blaine asked.

"N-no, I'm fine. I don't want you to catch anything. Honestly, don't worry about me," Kurt quickly excused.

"I'll be fine. Anyway, I need to give you some notes from English. We got a lot of information and I wouldn't want you to miss it. I've already photocopied my notes for you," said Blaine. "And there's no point in going to glee because Mr Schue said we're just practicing our duets and I can hardly practice without you, can I?"

"I, erm, I guess you're right. Erm, come after school then. My dad will be home so he'll let you in. I'll text you my address," Kurt said.

"Okay. I'll see you after school then," Blaine said, grinning even though he knew Kurt couldn't see him.

"Bye, Blaine," said Kurt before hanging up. Blaine continued to grin to himself. He was going to get to talk to Kurt. Finally, after worrying for so long about him. He knew sooner or later he'd have to confront Kurt and he thought maybe sooner was a safer bet.

* * *

Blaine was practically buzzing as he reached Kurt's address. He clutched his bag tightly on his shoulder, locked his car and hopped up the steps to the front door. He pressed the bell and began tapping his finger against his leg in anticipation. A few moments passed by and the door swung open revealing a man in a baseball cap. He wasn't much taller than Blaine, but he was broader and he had an air of protection about him.

"You Blaine?" he asked and Blaine nodded.

"Yes. Mr Hummel, I assume?" Blaine asked in reply.

"That's me, kid, but call me Burt," Burt said, a smile tweaking his lips.

"It's good to meet you, Burt," said Blaine.

"You too, kid. Kurt's in his room, downstairs," Burt said, pointing to the door leading to the basement and stepping out of the way for Blaine to get by. Blaine stepped in, toeing off his shoe and smiling at Burt in thanks before heading to the door he was directed to. He rapped three times and, once Kurt had invited him in, he opened the door and stepped down the stairs.

Kurt wasn't facing Blaine as he entered. He was sat at his desk, tapping away at his laptop. Blaine took the opportunity to look around Kurt's room. It was very white; white floors, white walls, white sofa, white hanging chair, white Egyptian cotton sheets. It was bright, especially for a basement room, and extremely stylish. It was definitely what he'd imagined Kurt's room would be like. He turned his attention back on Kurt who still hadn't turned. He assumed that Kurt hadn't noticed him entering so he cleared his throat lightly. Kurt still didn't turn around but he did mutter, "Blaine?"

"Yeah, it's me," Blaine answered, stepping down the final few steps. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Kurt said. Blaine cocked his head in confusion as Kurt didn't turn, just slammed down the lid to his laptop.

"Are you sure? Do you not want to see me or something?"

"No ... i-it's not that. J-just don't freak okay? I can e-explain," Kurt stammered. Blaine narrowed his eyes, feeling more confused. Until Kurt turned around.

"K-Kurt," was all Blaine could utter, rushing to Kurt's side to get a closer look. Kurt looked different. His hair wasn't style and strands fell over his forehead and the top of his eyebrows. He was dressed in what appeared to be lounge clothes, an over sized grey shirt and leggings. His face and skin was flawless as always. Well, flawless with the exception of his right eye. His right eye which was black and swollen.

"I know, it's horrible. I was going to cover it with concealer, but the swelling was awful this morning and I've been laying with a cool rag on it all day to get it to go down so that I can go into school tomorrow," Kurt said, his eyes focusing on his lap.

"What happened?" asked Blaine, dreading the answer.

"Oh, it was a complete accident. Alex threw my phone to me last night and I have terrible coordination so I didn't catch it in time and it hit me," Kurt explained. For good measure, he repeated, "Complete accident."

Blaine narrowed his eyes at Kurt. "An accident? That's had to be a hard throw to have that effect. You couldn't get an injury like that with just a gentle toss," he argued.

"H-he was kind of angry and threw it quite hard, but he d-didn't mean to hit m-me. Honestly. He wouldn't stop apologising, even though it wasn't really his fault" Kurt insisted.

"Kurt. You know you can tell me the truth," said Blaine, resting a hand on Kurt's shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

"I am," Kurt whispered, still not meeting Blaine's eye.

"If you can tell me the truth then tell me why you've been avoiding me all week," Blaine requested.

"I haven't," said Kurt, determinedly.

"Yes, you have Kurt. We haven't spoken since you left mine. We seemed to be getting on so well. What did I do wrong?"

"No, you didn't do anything wrong, I promise," Kurt insisted, finally meeting Blaine's eye. "Really, you've done nothing. Would it be cheesy to say 'it's not you, it's me?'"

"That would be extremely cheesy," Blaine chuckled. He sighed and pressed his lips together tightly before saying, "Please talk to me Kurt. Tell me what's wrong. I've worried about you."

"I'm honestly fine. I've just needed a bit of time to myself recently," Kurt excused.

"Well, can you promise me something?"

"What?"

"Can you promise me that if you need anyone or anything, anything at all, you'll come to me? No matter how little or silly or embarrassing. I hate that I've not spoken to you in ages and I hate the thought of you being worried or embarrassed about telling me things. I know you probably have a lot of people you can go to, but if you feel like you don't then come to me. Okay?"

Kurt contemplated his proposition, biting his lip delicately, before giving a nervous nod. "Okay," he whispered.

"Promise?" asked Blaine.

"Promise," Kurt confirmed.

"Great. Now, what do you say we give our duet one last practice before I go home?" Blaine suggested. Kurt smiled and nodded again and went to find his lyrics sheet. Blaine wanted Kurt to trust him, so he didn't want to push him into talking about things he didn't want to talk about, but he still wanted to help Kurt. The rest of the night, he couldn't take his gaze of Kurt's bruised eye.


	5. Chapter 5

"That son of a bitch!" exclaimed Wes, after Blaine had explained the events of that night to him on the phone.

"I hate him so much right now," Blaine practically growled. "And Kurt kept on insisting it was an accident and that he was really sorry for it. I don't know who he was trying to convince; me or himself."

"I mean, I've seen you angry with people. I remember when you first got to Dalton, but you never _hurt_ someone. Not enough to give them a black eye at least," said Wes.

"I just... I don't know what to do. I don't want to push him into saying things because he won't trust me then. Should I talk to Alex?" Blaine asked.

"No! Do not talk to Alex. If he's as bad as we think then he'll probably have told Kurt not to tell anyone and if he thinks Kurt's told you then he might just end up getting angry at Kurt and Kurt won't tell you anything else," Wes told him

"True. I don't know what to do, Wes. I feel so helpless. What if I can't save him? What if something happens to him and I'm too late to help him?" Blaine dug the heel of his hand into his eye, holding back the tears he felt welling there.

"Have you told him about... you know?"

"Wes, I've known him for a week. It took months for you to find out and that was an accident because you found the picture. I don't think I should be spilling my darkest secrets to him just yet," Blaine reminded him.

"But you seem to care about him already. And it might help him," Wes defended.

"I care because no one should have to go through what he's going through. I care because I don't want anything to happen to him. If anything happens to him, I'll feel responsible," Blaine explained.

"What about his friends? Won't they feel responsible?"

"I've talked to his friends. He's been distant with them all. Apparently it's strange that he's talking to me and I don't know why he is, but I'm not going to question him on it. I assume that what he's been doing to his friends is what he did to me all of last week and I have an idea of why he's doing it. But they don't know what going on with him and Alex. I don't think anyone knows," said Blaine.

"Well, he obviously needs someone and is putting his trust in you. If what you're saying is true, he's probably not used to letting people in. Maybe give him some time and he'll open up a bit more to you," Wes suggested.

"You're right. Jeez, why are you always right?"

"Because I am your best friend and I am amazing. Now, when are you coming to Dalton? Or at least letting us all come crash at yours. We know your place is huge, man!" Wes said.

"You know you can come over any time. If you want you can come this weekend. Bring Niff and Trent and Thad and David too. But, for the record, your house is like double the size of mine," Blaine said.

"Sure dude. But, yeah, we'll be there. I'll bring the marshmallows for chubby bunny, Niff'll bring the chocolate and Trent'll bring the boring stuff like blow up mattresses. Kay?"

"Kay. It'll be good to see you guys. I haven't seen you in ages," said Blaine.

"Having Warbler withdrawal symptoms?" teased Wes.

"Don't you know it. We're definitely having a jam session!" Blaine chuckled.

"Awesome. Speaking of jam sessions, how's your duet going?" asked Wes.

"Great! We've perfected it. I believe the glee club are going to meet tomorrow lunch time so we can perform ours and I think Santana and Brittany are performing theirs too," said Blaine.

"See, that's the one thing the Warblers don't have. Girls. Man, if you weren't gay we all know you'd be tapping one of them," said Wes.

"Of course. I've already been asked out, dude," said Blaine.

"You have?"

"Yeah. Rachel Berry, lead singer, split up with her boyfriend not so long ago and after our first glee meeting she came after me. Something about how we'd have so much vocal chemistry that she was sure the other guys would expect us to become an item and we couldn't let them down," said Blaine. Wes burst out laughing on the other end of the phone.

"Aw man, guess it is lucky you're gay if the girls are all like that," Wes said.

"True. I'm going to go now, Wes. Got some homework to catch up on. You better call me sometime soon," Blaine insisted.

"No need to get possessive, man. You know you're the only guy for me," Wes said. Blaine could practically hear him winking.

"I have no idea why I talk to you," said Blaine.

"Because you love me and I'm the hottest piece of ass you're going to get so you have to live with me. Anyway, go do your homework," said Wes.

"Sure. See you soon, man," said Blaine.

"See you soon," replied Wes.

* * *

Kurt was back the next day, eye concealed so well that Blaine almost forgot what was lying beneath the makeup. They didn't share any lessons that day, but Blaine saw Kurt in the halls and at his locker between lessons. He was with Alex each time, so instead of doing what he wanted to do and running up to talk to Kurt, he kept his distance, giving Kurt a sure smile before continuing his journey to lesson.

They met up with the glee club in the auditorium at lunch and Kurt and Blaine went backstage to find microphones to perform with. As Blaine was setting up the microphones, he asked Kurt, "Can I ask you something? You might find it kind of personal."

"I-I guess so," replied Kurt.

"You don't have to answer. I was just wondering, why do you and Alex never hold hands?"

"Pardon?"

"It's just that, from what I've heard, you've been together for a while and the only time I've seen you act couple-y is when he wrapped his arms around you last week. And I think that was more for my benefit actually," Blaine explained.

"Oh, well, Alex isn't really big on PDA. We do that sort of thing at home and lunch time, but not when we can be seen," Kurt answered.

"Any reason why?" asked Blaine. "Sorry if I'm overstepping."

"No, i-its okay. Just, the first week we started dating, I asked if he'd hold my hand and he did. Some of the guys on the hockey team saw and called us some names which he didn't like. He got angry and said he didn't want to do that in public. It's like, they know we're dating but as long as we don't act on it they can ignore it," Kurt explained.

"You mentioned lunch. Where do you go at lunch? I never see you in the cafeteria," Blaine asked.

"Oh, we usually go behind the bleachers. No one's ever there. The team sometimes practices at lunch too, so I watch," said Kurt.

"I see. Well if you ever need company whilst you watch, you know where to find me," Blaine said.

"Thanks," Kurt said with a small smile in Blaine's direction. "Ready to do our duet?"

"As I'll ever be," Blaine grinned.

* * *

Their duet went perfectly. Blaine knew it would. He was buzzing after, practically bouncing on his feet for the rest of the day. Well, until 5th period. Blaine had forgotten his Spanish textbook and had to head to his locker, still grinning like an idiot. However, that grin faded when a large jock walked past, carrying a cup of what looked to be a slushy. The next thing he heard was the slap of ice hitting skin and a sharp intake of breath. He turned to see Kurt covered in red slush, Alex standing next to him with narrowed eyes. But they weren't narrowed at the jock. They were narrowed at Kurt.

"Go clean up," he heard Alex tell Kurt. Kurt nodded and rushed off in the direction of the bathroom, not even noticing Blaine. Blaine didn't even think before he was storming up to Alex.

"What was that?" he demanded.

"What was what, hobbit?" countered Alex.

"That guy just through a slushy at Kurt. That guy is one of your team mates. Why did you not yell at him?"

"Why would I do that?" asked Alex.

"Because Kurt is your boyfriend. Isn't it your job to defend him from your dimwit friends?" said Blaine.

"Look, don't tell me how I should or shouldn't act. Just because Kurt's going to be sissy about getting some ice in his hair doesn't mean I should get my ass kicked by them guys!" said Alex.

"I cannot believe you. What is wrong with you?"

"Look, smartass," stated Alex, grabbing Blaine by the collar and bringing him to his toes so that their faces were close. "You don't tell me how to treat my boyfriend. He belongs to me. Not you."

"Kurt doesn't belong to anyone. He's his own person," Blaine growled.

"You don't get a say in this. Stay away from him. He doesn't need you and you certainly aren't getting him. He's mine and he'll always be mine," snarled Alex.

"Maybe, one day, he'll see that he can do better," said Blaine.

"You think you're better?" asked Alex.

"Anyone's better than you. If you really cared for him, you'd have a word with those boneheads and you'd be in that bathroom helping Kurt clean up," said Blaine.

"I told you not to tell me how to treat him," said Alex.

"Well, that's how you should treat him," said Blaine.

Alex shoved Blaine away, the surprise of the shove sending Blaine into a locker. He pointed at Blaine and stated, "Stay away from him, or this won't end well. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm late for class." With that, Alex left, walking in the complete opposite direction of the bathroom. Blaine had to take a minute to catch his breath but as soon as he realised the situation, he scurried off to find Kurt.

* * *

Sobbing. That's what Blaine heard when he first entered the bathroom. Kurt was crying, the sound so heartbreaking that Blaine just wanted to gather Kurt in his arms and keep him there forever.

"Kurt?" he called out, making his presence known.

"Blaine?"

"Can I come in?"

"Please," Kurt whimpered.

He stepped inside and his heart sunk at the sight. Kurt was sat on a plastic chair in front of the sink, his jacket abandoned revealing the slushy stained shirt he wore beneath, his hair was wet from washing out the slushy, which made it hang over his forehead the way Blaine had seen it the previous day and his concealer had washed away to reveal the bruised eye, which was pooling with tears. Blaine didn't speak. He couldn't. All he could do was rush to Kurt's side and wrap his arms around him. Kurt put his head into Blaine's shoulder and let his tears flow, a whimper emitting from him every few seconds.

"I'm so sorry, are you okay?" asked Blaine, rubbing his back soothingly.

"No, I-I'm sorry. I don't mean to be s-such a baby ab-bout it. I-I just thought th-that they'd stopped b-but apparently n-not and I forgot h-how cold they were," Kurt sobbed.

"This has happened before?" asked Blaine.

"I used t-to get them t-twice a week. Th-they haven't done them for a couple of weeks now though. I-I guess I got my hopes up," said Kurt.

"Do you need me to get my gym shirt?" asked Blaine, eyeing Kurt's red stained shirt.

"N-no, I have spare shirts in my locker," Kurt assured him.

"What's your combination? I'll go get one," said Blaine. Kurt whispered the numbers and Blaine practically ran to his locker. He opened it, found a shirt and quickly locked it, running back to the bathroom. Kurt had stopped sobbing, but his eyes were still red rimmed and he was wiping at them furiously. He handed the shirt to Kurt who took it with a small "Thank you" and a grateful smile. Blaine was a bit taken aback when Kurt simply stood and lifted his shirt off, revealing the undershirt he was wearing. His toned arms were on show, but the shape of his arms wasn't what caught Blaine's attention. It was the bruises.

"What are they from?" asked Blaine, nodding at the bruises. Kurt turned and quickly pulled on his shirt, as if he'd forgotten Blaine was even there.

"Sorry, I'm so used to doing this on my own," Kurt said. He put his hand to his right arm and give his upper arm a gentle squeeze. "Those are mainly from locker checks. But like I said they haven't been as bad lately."

"They shouldn't be doing that at all. Why do they?" asked Blaine.

"At first it was simply because I was gay and not afraid to let it show. Then it was because I'm in glee. Then it was because they insisted I turned Alex gay too. Pretty much any excuse I guess," Kurt said with a sad smile.

"I'm sorry, Kurt. I know it sucks being bullied," said Blaine.

"You've been bullied?" asked Kurt.

Blaine nodded. "Before I went to Dalton I went to public school. I didn't have many friends there, but I was okay for the first few months. Then I came out and the guys on the football team didn't really like it. They teased me, shoved me into lockers, called me names. It was horrible. And then there was this dance, this Sadie Hawkins dance. I really wanted to go so I asked this guy, the only other gay guy I knew, to go with me. It was meant to be a kind of 'up yours' to the jocks who hated us. The night was great, we really did have a great time. But then after, we were waiting for this guy's dad to pick us up and these jocks came and... beat the crap out of us."

"Oh, God, Blaine, I'm so sorry," said Kurt, wrapping an arm around Blaine.

"No, it's okay. I was in hospital for a week or so but I healed and, after talking to my parents, we agreed that Dalton would be the best option for me. I'm glad it happened otherwise I'd have never have known the guys from Dalton. They helped me through a lot," Blaine said with a reassuring smile.

"You speak highly of the Warblers," commented Kurt.

"They're my best friends," said Blaine. "They're my New Directions."

Kurt's smile dropped. "The New Directions hate me now."

"Why would you think that?" asked Blaine.

"Because I've been horrible to them. I've avoided them even when they tried to be there for me. I've shut them out, I've not participated in glee," Kurt said.

"Why did you?" asked Blaine.

"I thought I was doing them a favour. They're such good friends and what am I? I don't deserve them. I don't deserve you. I just got a bit caught up with having you as a friend that I didn't want to stop. But I really don't deserve your friendship," Kurt said.

"Why do you say that? Of course you deserve me. What you don't deserve is the way that you're being treated," Blaine insisted.

Kurt's eyes were pooling with tears again. "I do," he whispered.

"Why would you think that?" asked Blaine. Kurt didn't answer. "Have you been told that?" Once again Kurt didn't answer. Blaine tried again. "Did _he_ tell you that?" When Kurt didn't answer again, Blaine understood. His fists clenched in anger.

"Please don't be angry at me," Kurt whispered, wrapping his arms around himself and sitting away from Blaine.

"Of course I'm not angry at you. It's him I'm angry at. How could you let him tell you that? How could you date him?" Blaine asked, his voice raising in anger, but he tried not to yell and scare Kurt.

"He loves me. He's the only guy who's ever going to love me. Who could love me? I'm damaged," Kurt said, his voice cracking.

"Don't believe that for one second, Kurt. You'll find someone who treats you right. Who loves you and doesn't hurt you," Blaine replied. He paused before asking, "You know earlier you said that most of those bruises are from locker checks?" Kurt nodded. "Are the rest from him?"

Kurt wrapped his arms tighter around himself and whispered, "He gets angry sometimes. He doesn't mean to hurt me. He's always so sweet afterwards, apologising and hugging me and kissing the bruises better. He gets so upset when he sees what he's done."

"You don't need to defend him, Kurt. He shouldn't be hurting you at all, no matter how apologetic he is. If he has problems controlling his anger, he should take it out on something else. Not you," Blaine said.

"Why do you care so much, Blaine? You barely know me and I barely know you. Why would you care?" asked Kurt.

"Because, Kurt, no one should be treated this way. No one should feel the way you feel and no one should let someone who is supposed to love them hurt them," clarified Blaine. "It can end badly, and I don't want to see it end badly for you."

"How do you know?"

"I-I just..." Blaine paused and shook his head. "Please just trust me."

"We need to get to class," Kurt said.

"You're not going to class in the state you're in," Blaine said. He picked up Kurt's bag and offered him a hand to help him up. "Come on. I'm taking you home."

"But I have my car," said Kurt.

"I'll pick you up for school tomorrow," said Blaine. Kurt glanced between the hand that Blaine offered and his eyes before taking it. Blaine pulled him up gently and led him out of the bathroom towards the car park. As they buckled up in Blaine's car, Kurt turned to Blaine and said, "Blaine? You're not going to tell anyone what I've told you are you?"

"Do you not want me to?" asked Blaine. Kurt shook his head. "I'm not going to break your trust, Kurt. I think you should talk to someone, your dad or your friends at least, but if you don't want to then I won't force you to. Just please tell me when you're upset. Don't suffer in silence, okay?"

Kurt nodded and wiped the tears from his eyes, a true smile taking over his face.


	6. Chapter 6

For the rest of the week, Blaine was glad that Kurt opened up to him a bit more. He was still trying to get Kurt to see that he was worth more than he let on, even if it was a slow process. But at least he was talking to Blaine. He still avoided Blaine at school, but Blaine knew that it was probably because Alex told him to. Blaine was still fighting the urge to punch Alex in the face every time he saw him. Now that he knew what Alex was really like, he couldn't help but get angry whenever he thought about the way he was treating Kurt.

Saturday came fast and Blaine was excited. It had been weeks since he'd last seen his Warbler friends and he couldn't wait to catch up and have a laugh with them. Wes's car pulled up on the drive and he rushed to greet his friends as they all piled into his home and headed straight to his room.

"Nice room, dude!" said Trent. "Is it true that you have a music room?"

Blaine nodded and said, "Yeah, it's where my guitars are. We can go in there later if you like."

"Any chance for you to show off you musical talent, eh Anderson?" commented Nick, who was clutching hands with Jeff. Jeff nodded in agreement with his boyfriends statement.

"Shut up, you. I hear you've been hogging all the limelight since I left," Blaine countered.

"Well _someone_ had to replace you and it couldn't have been one of these idiots," said Nick. At the sight of his boyfriend pouting, he added, "Except for Jeff. He's not an idiot." Jeff grinned and placed a chaste kiss on his boyfriend's lips.

"Dudes, this is guy night. Not sappy adorableness night. If you want to make gaybies tonight then go find Blaine's spare room!" Wes teased.

"Shut up, Wes. Just because you're not getting any," Jeff chuckled.

"You guys suck," said Wes. The boys raised their eyebrows at Wes, who groaned when he realised what he said. "I hate you guys."

"You said it, Wes," said David.

"Now let's all ignore Wes's slip of the tongue - stop laughing Blaine" - Trent said, turning to Blaine who was sure enough trying to smother his laughter - " and let's start this 'guy night' as Wes called it.'

"Sure. Where are you parents anyway, Blaine?" asked Thad.

"Some comedy night at The Lodger. Decided to make a night of it," Blaine answered.

"Awesome. So seven boys, no parents, 5 bags of marshmallows, 4 giant chocolate bars, a room full of musical instruments and a giant flat screen TV downstairs. I can see this being an interesting night," Wes said with a grin.

* * *

"I'll get it!" Blaine called when the doorbell rang. He grabbed the money they'd all put in to pay for the seven giant pizzas they'd ordered and rushed to answer the door, grinning like an idiot. He hadn't realised just how much he'd missed his friends from Dalton and he'd been having a whale of a time with them. He couldn't stop smiling.

However his smile fell as soon as he opened the door.

Kurt stood on his doorstep, eyes and nose red, his hair and shirt ruffled.

"Kurt?" Blaine asked.

"I-I'm sorry. I just n-needed someone," Kurt stammered. "I'm intruding aren't I?"

"No no no. What's wrong?"

"I really don't want to talk about it right now. I was kind of hoping we could just like, hang out or something, but you've got people round haven't you?" he said, motioning to Wes's car on the drive.

"It's just some of the Warblers. Want to come in? You can stay over if you want," Blaine suggested.

"No, I don't want to interrupt," Kurt said.

"You won't be interrupting. You're my friend too. The Warblers will love you. Besides, I don't think we'll finish all the pizza we have with the amount of sweets and chocolates the guys have brought around," Blaine chuckled.

"I, erm, do you mind? I could do with just having a laugh right now," Kurt said.

"Of course I don't mind. In fact, I insist," Blaine said. "Now come on in, it's cold outside!"

"Thanks," Kurt said. He stepped inside, toeing off his shoes with an unsure smile in Blaine's direction.

"Come meet the guys, they're going to love you!" Blaine said.

"I don't suppose you mind me using the bathroom first? I look kind of a state right now," Kurt said.

"Sure, I'll go sort you some pyjamas for tonight whilst you do that," Blaine said, leading Kurt up the stairs. When Blaine had found some pyjamas, he met Kurt out on the landing. Kurt looked better, fresher. He'd sorted his hair and shirt back into place and he'd cooled his skin with cold water. Blaine smiled at him and Kurt returned it. He gave him the pyjamas, which Kurt accepted gratefully and rushed to change into. He brought his clothes out and took them into Blaine's room to keep out of the way. "Ready?" Blaine asked.

"Yes," Kurt replied. Blaine went to lead Kurt back down the stairs, but paused when Kurt said, "Oh, and Blaine?" Blaine turned to look at him. "Thank you."

"It's nothing," Blaine insisted.

* * *

"What took you so long? And where's our pizza?" asked David when he came back into the living room. Then they noticed Kurt behind him. "Oh, who's this?"

"Guys, this is my friend, Kurt, from McKinley. He's going to be joining us. Kurt this is Wes, David, Thad, Trent, Nick and Jeff" Blaine said pointing at each boy in turn. He raised his eyebrows as if to say 'don't ask any questions' and the guys smiled in understanding.

"Finally, we get to meet one of Blaine's new public school friends. Now you can dish the dirt! Has he been wearing those Capri pants and polos?" questioned Thad.

"Every day," confirmed Kurt with a smirk.

"God, Anderson. Your ankles really aren't that hot," Wes teased.

"Shut up, Wesley. My ankles are hot and you know it. I can't believe this is the first time you've met and you're already ganging up on me to take the mick out of my wardrobe!" Blaine huffed, crossing his arms and mocking annoyance. "Come on Kurt. You can come watch the movie by me. I don't want the other guys to rub off on you."

"Where's our pizza?" asked Trent. As if on cue, the doorbell rang. "Wow, I'm magic."

"Yeah, Trent, you're the next Harry Potter. Niff, go get the pizza! Money's by the door," said Blaine. Nick and Jeff stood up with a synchronised sigh.

"And no making out in the hall!" yelled David. "Or in front of the pizza guy!"

"We can't make promises!" Nick called back, taking Jeff's hand and pulling him out into the hall.

"What movie are we watching then?" asked Blaine.

"Well, we have the choice between Spiderman and Batman," said Thad. "Niff and Trent wanted Spiderman, but Wes, David and I wanted Batman. Looks like you guys will have to decide for us."

"Spiderman," Blaine and Kurt said in unison. They caught each others eyes and burst out laughing.

"Oh God. Blaine has replaced me. With a better looking guy. David, hold me!" Wes said, dramatically throwing himself at his friend.

"Comparing Kurt to you, Wes, is offending," Blaine stated, his voice emotionless.

Wes went to complain when Nick and Jeff walked back into the room, carrying seven massive pizzas between them. "Sorry we took so long. The pizza guy had a bad case of homophobia and Nick had some chocolate on his lip," Jeff laughed with a wink at his boyfriend.

"You guys are terrible," Trent said.

"Did you decide a movie?" asked Nick.

"Yeah, we're watching Spiderman," said Blaine. "The gay vote over ruled."

"Don't tell that to my girlfriend," said Trent.

"We all know that you're hetero-flexible," teased Wes.

"Guys! Are we going to spend the rest of the night talking about Trent's sexuality or watch this movie and eat this damn pizza?" asked David.

"Movie and pizza! Movie and pizza!" Nick and Jeff chanted.

"You alright?" Blaine whispered to Kurt as the rest of the boys delved into the pizza.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Your friends are funny," Kurt said with a grin.

"They take some getting used to, but I wouldn't trade them for anything," Blaine said with a smile. "Now let's get some pizza before these lot wolf it down."

* * *

The pizzas were finished, the movie was running and already the guys were falling asleep. Nick and Jeff were probably the first to go, curled up against each other with Nick's head on Jeff's chest. Trent and David were next, followed shortly by Thad. After Kurt had dropped off, it was just Wes and Blaine awake. Wes tiptoed over to lie in the space between Blaine and Jeff.

"Is he okay?" Wes whispered, nodding towards Kurt who hugging his knees and nuzzling the pillow beneath him in his sleep.

"I don't know," Blaine whispered back. "I think he's feeling better. He really needed someone tonight."

"Do you think _he's_ the reason that Kurt's so upset?" Wes asked.

"I'm not sure. I hope not, but I assume he probably is," replied Blaine.

"I'm glad you're there for him, Blaine," Wes murmured. "I know that you'll be able to help him."

"Do you still think I should tell him?" asked Blaine.

"Personally, yes. If you tell him, he might understand," said Wes.

"You're right," said Blaine.

"I'm always right, dude," Wes chuckled.

"You're head is going to get too big to fit through that door soon, man," Blaine said and shoved his best friend before turning back to the movie.

* * *

When Blaine opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Kurt. He blinked for a moment, confused about the fact that Kurt was sleeping next to him, his face looking peaceful and oh so beautiful in sleep. He tried his best to look away, realising that if Kurt woke up then Blaine would look like such a creep. It wasn't until a bang sounded in the kitchen that he tore his eyes away and realised that everyone was already up. He rolled off of the blow up mattress and stood up, trying not to jolt Kurt, but it was too late. Kurt's eyes fluttered open and he rubbed them out of tiredness.

"Morning," Blaine whispered.

"Morning," Kurt mumbled, sitting up and stretching his back.

"I think the guys are awake," Blaine said, nodding his head in the direction of the kitchen where the sound of laughter was emitting from. "Want to go get some breakfast?" Kurt nodded and so Blaine held out his hand to help Kurt up. Kurt accepted it with a sleepy smile and they made their way through to the kitchen. The guys appeared to be taking turns at spinning on the chairs of the breakfast bar.

"You guys are so childish!" Blaine laughed.

"Blaine! You're here! Tell Trent off. He pushed me off the chair and now my ass is bruised!" demanded Thad.

"I repeat. Childish. What we eating?" Blaine said.

"What do you have Blainers?" asked Wes.

"Don't call me that. And we can make pancakes? Although I don't think I trust any of you to cook. My mom would kill you if you damaged any part of her kitchen!" Blaine said.

"I'll make them," piped up Kurt. The boys all looked at Kurt grinning.

"Yay! We love you Kurt!" shouted Wes.

"Wes, you love anyone who makes you food," Blaine laughed.

"I love Kurt more because he's making me pancakes," Wes argued. Kurt chuckled and Blaine helped him find the ingredients to make the pancake batter. As they began making the pancakes, the Warblers chatted to him happily.

"I've heard all about yours and Blaine's duet, how did it go?" asked Wes. Blaine glared at him.

"It went great, I think. Everyone loved it," Kurt answered.

"What's your range?" asked Thad.

"Countertenor," said Kurt. The boys all stared at him, with the exception of Blaine who already knew.

"Dude, please come back to Dalton with us," said Nick. "We haven't had a countertenor in years!"

"You don't even know if I can sing," Kurt chuckled.

"Sing for us then," said Jeff.

"You... what?"

"Sing. Do the duet you and Blaine did," Jeff suggested. Kurt looked over at Blaine who nodded with a smile and so Kurt began to sing. The boys stared at him in awe as his voice filled the kitchen, harmonising with Blaine's.

They finished the song as Kurt placed a highly stacked pile of pancakes on the breakfast bar. The boys all cheered and whooped and Kurt smiled at them sheepishly.

"Are you sure you don't want to come join the Warblers?" asked Nick, taking a pancake off the plate and taking a bite. "Oh god, these are the best pancakes ever. I'm not even asking, I'm begging now. Please come to Dalton. You can sleep in my bed. I'll take the floor!"

"Nu-uh! If he goes to Dalton then I'm stuck with Rachel Berry in glee!" Blaine argued.

"You'll have to deal with that one on your own, man," said Nick. Blaine pretended to throw a tantrum whilst his friends, including Kurt, all laughed at him. Blaine couldn't help but hold back his smile. He knew later he and Kurt would have to talk about the reasons behind his appearance the previous night, but until then he just enjoyed the sound of Kurt's laughter.


	7. Chapter 7

The Warblers left shortly after they'd eaten their pancakes and got dressed, leaving Kurt and Blaine to clear up the mess in the kitchen. Blaine couldn't help but mirror the smile that Kurt was now sporting, hoping that he'd played a part in making it appear.

"I'm sorry my friends are so crazy. We haven't seen each other for a few weeks so we had a lot to catch up on," said Blaine as he loaded plates into the dishwasher.

"I like them. They're funny," Kurt assured him. "Why did you leave Dalton anyway? You seem to miss your friends a lot."

"It's kind of difficult to explain. The main reason was that we moved here and Dalton's a good two hour drive away. I wasn't really up for boarding; I couldn't imagine staying at school every single hour of every single day. I like living at home. And I think I liked the idea of facing public school again. When I transferred to Dalton, it felt like I was running. I know I'll probably get bullied when people find out that I'm gay, but I'm going with the don't ask don't tell right now," Blaine explained.

"I like your way of thinking," Kurt smiled.

"So, I hate to be a party pooper, but are you ready to talk?" asked Blaine. Kurt's smile dropped and he hesitantly nodded.

"You don't mind do you? I mean you've just had a good night with your old friends and I've already ruined that by gatecrashing. I don't want to be a further bother," Kurt said. Blaine shook his head though.

"No, you're not a bother. And I had a good night with you too. The guys loved you!" Blaine insisted.

"They did? I thought they were just being nice because they felt sorry for me," Kurt said.

"Nope. They did like you. I think Nick's thinking of dumping Jeff so he can marry you or something," Blaine chuckled.

"You were right, by the way. Niff are adorable!"

"Everyone thinks so! Now, I'll make us some hot chocolate and we can go to my room to talk, okay?" Blaine asked.

"Okay," Kurt agreed.

When they were upstairs and settled on Blaine's bed, Blaine turned to Kurt with a reassuring smile. "So, why were you so upset last night?" he asked.

"It's stupid really. It was my own fault," Kurt murmured.

"Tell me," Blaine said, softly.

Kurt took a deep breath and looked down at Blaine's bed spread, playing with the material with his fingers. "I was at Alex's last night, as usual, and we were kissing and it was fine, but then he started to move his hand further up my leg until it was on my inner thigh and I pushed him away and told him to stop and said we should cool down. He got kind of annoyed and kept kissing me and wouldn't listen w-when I told him to stop. It wasn't until he started to unbutton my shirt that I p-pushed him and yelled at him to stop, which just made him more annoyed. H-he yelled at me, told me it was no wonder I'd never h-had a boyfriend because I was such a p-prude and wouldn't put out." A few tears leaked from his eyes and Blaine put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "He's right though, I-I should have just given him what he wanted and it would have been fine. We've been dating for four months, how can I expect him to wait?"

"No, stop," said Blaine. "Don't talk like that. It's not your fault. If he loved you, he'd wait as long as you needed."

"But he shouldn't have to!" Kurt insisted.

"Kurt, if you're not ready, he should respect that, okay? He shouldn't push you into doing anything you don't want to do. I'm just happy that you didn't let him," Blaine said, wrapping his arms around Kurt. Kurt rested his head on Blaine's shoulder and sniffed. "I still can't believe you're with that jerk."

"I can't leave him," Kurt sniffed. "He loves me. It would break his heart."

"It's breaking my heart to see you in such pain, Kurt. If he loved you then why would he treat you this way?" Blaine asked.

"I told you, he's always really sorry. He buys me flowers and gifts to make up for it. He doesn't stop apologising."

"And then he does it all over again. He shouldn't be treating you like this in the first place," Blaine insisted. "I don't want it to get worse. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Nothing's going to happen to me!" said Kurt.

"It might," Blaine said.

"How do you know?" asked Kurt.

Blaine sighed and rubbed the back of neck. "I haven't known you long, but I can trust you," Blaine said.

"I... Yes, why do you say that?"

"Because I'm going to tell you something and I trust you to keep it between us. Only Wes knows this and it took me months to tell him, and I didn't even mean to. So I can trust you right?" asked Blaine, keeping eye contact with Kurt.

"Yeah, you can trust me," Kurt said. "What is it, Blaine?"

"Let me start by saying that my mom and dad... they're not my mom and dad," Blaine said.

"What?" asked Kurt.

"Linda and Andrew aren't my parents. Well, they are, just not biologically. They adopted me. They're Linda and Andrew Adams," explained Blaine.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"You'll understand in a minute," Blaine said. He lowered his eyes to his lap before he began to speak. "I have a brother, a real brother, called Cooper. He's 13 years older than me and works as an actor in LA. When he was about 9, my dad - my real dad that is - started drinking. Quite heavily I believe. Cooper told me he used to come home drunk almost every night and when he was drunk, he got angry. He'd shout at my mom and Cooper. He'd tell them they were worthless, call them horrible things and then he'd sleep it off and be apologetic the next day, buying mom flowers and Coop toys to make up for it. After a while, he started getting abusive. He didn't hit Coop, but he hit my mom. He was still apologetic afterwards, but he continued it. My mom would send Cooper to his room as soon as he got home and he'd listen to music to drown out the sounds of him yelling.

"He stopped hitting her when she got pregnant with me. Cooper thinks that he'd been raping her when he was drunk and felt bad that she'd gotten pregnant. He even tried some AA meetings, but after I was born he started drinking again. I used to wake up in the middle of the night to the sounds of banging and yelling and go climb in with Cooper, who'd sing me to sleep. The only reason she stayed with him in the first place was because his family were funding Cooper's college fund, but when she had me, she knew she had to stay so that she had financial support to look after me. She couldn't cope with it and she started self harming. Coop told me that when I was young, I'd see the scars on her arms and ask what was wrong. She'd tell me that mommy hurt herself and I'd go to the kitchen to get a band aid for her scars and kiss them better. Cooper left when I was five to move to LA and without him, my mom had to work extra hard to look after me. She managed okay, I guess. I was never hurt. But then came my sixth birthday.

"My sixth birthday is one of my clearest childhood memories. I remember I woke up needing the bathroom. My dad hadn't come home until late the previous night so my mom and I had stayed up drinking hot chocolate and watching Disney movies. So I woke up, needing the bathroom, and super excited because it was my birthday. I jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom and went to go in, but the door was locked. I knocked, but no one answered. I knocked again and again, but still no one answered. I looked around the whole house for my mom, thinking the door might have been stuck, but she was no where. The only place she could have been was the bathroom. I waited until I was completely desperate for the bathroom and she still wasn't answering so I put on my dressing gown and slippers, grabbed her house keys and went and knocked next door.

"A lovely middle aged couple lived next door, Mr and Mrs Jones. They sometimes looked after me if my mom got a bad injury and had to go to hospital. But I went and knocked on their door and explained that my mom was in the bathroom and she wouldn't answer me and I was really desperate. So they let me come in and use their bathroom and Mr Jones got his ladder, climbed over the fence and went to look through the bathroom window. I remember me and Mrs Jones were waiting at the bottom, her arms wrapped around me protectively, and Mr Jones looked down and just shook his head sadly. I was really confused because I thought that he meant she wasn't in there and I got worried that she'd ran away.

"Mrs Jones sat me down in their living room with a glass of milk and put on some cartoons whilst Mr Jones talked on the phone. I just wanted to know where my mom was. Police and ambulances showed up and the police man asked me about what had happened that morning. I asked where Cooper was and they said they'd called him and he was booking the next flight, but they wouldn't tell me where my mom was. Finally, a police woman came in and sat next to me and told me my mom had gone to sleep. I remember I told her 'I know how to wake her up. You just shake her really hard,' but the police woman shook her head and told me that mommy wasn't going to wake up.

"I found out when I was older what had happened. It turned out that she'd been self harming in the bath and she'd cut too deep. She hadn't tried to stop the bleeding or call an ambulance and in the end she died of blood loss. Cooper came home for a month to look after me. He'd given evidence against my dad and I think my dad got done for domestic abuse or something. I didn't see him after that anyway. Cooper had to go back to LA for college so I went into care. For a year I was in and out of care homes until I was fostered at 7 by Linda and Andrew. Then, when I was 8, they adopted me. But that's not why I was telling you this story." For the first time since speaking, Blaine lifted his gaze to look at Kurt. Both boys had tears in their eyes and Kurt lifted a hand to wipe his away. "I'm telling you this because I don't want something like that to happen to you. I know your situations are different, but I don't want you to get caught in something and not be able to get out of it. I don't want it to get worse than it is now."

"Blaine..." Kurt whispered, his voice cracking. "I-I'm so so sorry." Kurt reached over to wrap his arms around the boy. Blaine accepted the embrace and rested his head on Kurt's shoulder.

"Do you see why I worry about you so much?" asked Blaine.

"Yeah, I see. I didn't realise- I'm so sorry," Kurt said, squeezing Blaine tightly.

"Don't apologise. Just... please let me help you. I'd feel so bad if something happened to you," Blaine replied.

"I-I don't know how you can help me," Kurt admitted. "I don't know how to get out of this."

"We'll do this together. We can try," Blaine suggested.

Kurt felt tears falling onto his cheeks at the same time that he felt them pooling on his shoulder. "We can try," he repeated.


	8. Chapter 8

Blaine was glad that Kurt was putting some trust into him and starting to see that he was worth more than Alex insisted. There were a few times that Kurt had even stood up for himself when Alex got angry, which Blaine hoped meant he was beginning to see that Alex was a grade A jerk, but definitely meant that there were occasions when Kurt rang or turned up on his doorstep in the middle of the night, sobbing and seeking comfort from Blaine. Over the next month, Blaine saw Kurt grow stronger emotionally and he couldn't help but feel proud that he'd played some part in that.

The fact that Kurt was still being abused, however, still kept Blaine up at night. He'd tried time and time again to get Kurt to talk to someone, a teacher, the guidance councilor, his dad, but Kurt refused. Blaine knew Kurt was scared, he saw the fear every time Kurt showed up to his in tears or whenever he brought up the idea of speaking to someone, but he wanted Kurt to know that he had nothing to be frightened of.

About a month after the Warbler sleepover, Kurt showed up with bruises on his face and his eyes red from crying and Blaine had had enough.

"He's never hit me in the face before. He always hits where it doesn't hurt as much, arms, legs, you know. He was crying when he realised what he'd done. He put cream on my face and kissed the bruises and told me he loves me. I felt so bad for him," Kurt sobbed.

"No. That's it Kurt. I've let this go on long enough. He can't do this anymore. I can't watch him hurt you. If you don't tell someone about him, then I'm going to," Blaine insisted.

"No, Blaine, please don't. Please, I'm begging you," Kurt whimpered.

"Kurt, do you know how much it breaks my heart to see you in so much pain? I can't let him hurt you anymore. If you don't talk to someone, then as soon as school's out tomorrow, I'm going to yours and I'm going to talk to your dad. He'll probably hate me for keeping it from him so long, but I know he'll be more pissed at Alex for what he's doing to you," Blaine said.

"Please, don't," Kurt begged. "I can't have him worry about me. I don't want him to get ill again."

"Your dad will be fine. What if one day Alex goes further and hurts you more. I think you ending up in hospital and your dad finding out that your boyfriend is the reason you're there will be enough to make him ill again," Blaine spat.

"Please don't tell him. Alex will get angry at me. It'll make everything worse," Kurt argued.

"Or it'll make things better. Why can't you just leave him, Kurt? You can see he's no good for you," asked Blaine.

"He loves me," whispered Kurt.

"Do you love him?"

"What?"

"Whenever I ask your reasons for not leaving him you tell me he loves you, but you never say you love him," Blaine explained.

"I... I don't know," Kurt murmured.

"Well, can you see yourself being with him in the future? Having a house and kids with him?" asked Blaine.

"I... I j-just... N-no I can't," admitted Kurt.

"Well why are you letting yourself suffer through this?"

"I'll wait for him to break up with me. He's sure to after we graduate. He'll find someone else when we move and he'll break up with me. I know he will," said Kurt.

"You shouldn't have to wait for him to break up with you, Kurt. If you're not happy in this relationship then you should call it off. _Please_ talk to someone. What about Miss Pillsbury? She'd help you. I'll come with you to the appointment if you want. I'm begging you, Kurt, don't let yourself get hurt anymore," said Blaine.

"I'll talk to Miss Pillsbury. B-but, I'm scared," Kurt stammered.

"You don't have to be scared. I'm here for you, I'm not going anywhere, and I'll be there in Miss Pillsbury's office with you. Okay?" said Blaine. Kurt nodded, wiping a few stray tears from his cheeks. "Now, come on, let's get you some ice for those bruises and then we can watch a musical of your choice."

"Can we watch The Sound of Music?" asked Kurt.

"We can watch The Sound of Music," confirmed Blaine.

* * *

As promised, Kurt and Blaine went to Miss Pillsbury's office the next day in their free period. The woman grinned at them as they entered and offered them a seat in front of her desk. She pumped some hand sanitiser gel into her hands and rubbed them together gently.

"So, how can I help you boys?" she asked, cheerily. She looked between Kurt and Blaine. Blaine gave Kurt a reassuring smile and he nodded, before looking up and meeting Miss Pillsbury's eyes.

"I wanted to talk about my boyfriend," he explained. Blaine gave his forearm a squeeze.

"Go ahead," Miss Pillsbury encouraged.

"He... he's been ... hitting me," Kurt whispered. Blaine felt him stiffen beneath his grip, probably in fear, but he just continued to squeeze his forearm.

"Would you mind elaborating?" asked Miss Pillsbury, kindly.

"I... We've been dating for about five months n-now. At first, it was great and he was really sweet and everything, but after a couple of months he started getting angry at me. I spent too much time with friends and not enough time with him, I wore tight jeans which he classed as provocative, I was close to the guys in glee, and it made him angry. When he got angry, h-he'd hit me. It was light a first, but after a while he got more aggressive. He's always apologetic afterwards and tries to m-make me feel better and tells me how much he loves me," Kurt explained, tears welling in his eyes.

"But he continues to abuse you?" asked Miss Pillsbury. Kurt just nodded. "Has he done anything other that hitting? He hasn't tried to force you into anything, has he?"

"No, nothing like that," Kurt insisted.

"Kurt, what about Warbler night?" Blaine reminded him.

"Oh, he tried to get me to go further with him and started unbuttoning my shirt, but I pushed him off and told him no. He got angry and yelled some stuff at me, but I didn't get hurt that night, just shook up," said Kurt.

"It doesn't matter that you didn't get hurt, Kurt," Blaine said.

"But it's significant," said Kurt.

"Okay, Kurt, I can see that Blaine knows about your relationship, who else knows?" asked Miss Pillsbury.

"No one. I've kind of been distant with my friends since it started and my dad hasn't noticed. It helps that I own concealer and he's gullible," said Kurt.

"Well, I'm here to help Kurt, but as a professional there are things I have to do. If your boyfriend is seriously hurting you then I have to tell a senior member of staff and inform your father-"

"Please don't," Kurt cut her off. "I don't want him worrying about me."

"I'm sorry, Kurt, but I have to. An abusive relationship between two students has to be reported to Principal Figgins who is obligated to inform the parents. And by parents I mean the parents of both students. It's the only way your boyfriend can be dealt with. Now, he's too young to be prosecuted, but he could face suspension and/or therapy," explained Miss Pillsbury. "The police may have to get involved though if the abuse is worse than you're letting on."

"It's not," Kurt whispered. "Everything I've told you is the truth."

"Then, I'll talk to Principal Figgins immediately and he'll call your father as well as your boyfriend's parents. I'll need his name though," Miss Pillsbury said.

"Alex Hughes," Blaine provided.

"Thank you, Blaine," said Miss Pillsbury.

"Can I just... you can call my father, but do you mind if I tell him? I just... I don't want him to hear it from someone else," Kurt requested.

"Of course, Kurt. I'm glad you came to me today," said Miss Pillsbury.

"You can thank Blaine for that," Kurt told her, glancing up at his friend.

"You're very lucky to have a friend like Blaine then," she said with a smile.

"Yeah," Kurt said, smiling at Blaine. "Yeah, I am."


	9. Chapter 9

"Kurt, _what_ is going on?"

The voice startled both Kurt and Blaine and they both turned to see Burt Hummel, storming down the hallway in the direction of them. Kurt froze, only this throat moving as he gulped, but Blaine rested a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

"Hey, dad," Kurt whispered.

"Kurt, what's happened? I get a call at work saying that I need to come in to talk to Figgins but I've not been told why. Is it that Karofsky kid? Have the football team been harassing you? Please tell me they haven't been dumpster diving you again," Burt rambled.

"No, dad, it's nothing to do with that. Actually, before you see Figgins, do you mind if I talk to you? I have something that I need to tell you," requested Kurt.

"Sure, kid. Did, erm, did you want to go somewhere a little more private?" Burt asked. His eyes flickered to Blaine, whose hand was still on Kurt's shoulder, thumb making comforting patterns on the clothed skin.

"We can go into the choir room," Kurt suggested. "But Blaine can come too. He already knows."

Kurt lead them into the choir room and unfolded three chairs, two adjacent and one opposite them. Kurt took a seat and pulled Blaine down next to him, before gesturing for his father to sit opposite them.

"Come on then, Kurt, what's going on?" Burt asked.

Kurt took a deep breath and gripped at Blaine's arm. "It's about Alex," he said. "Do you remember when I got that black eye and you asked how I got it and I said that I was practicing for glee club and tripped and hit my eye on the table?" Burt nodded, his eyes narrowing in confusion. "I lied," Kurt whispered.

"You... what?"

"I lied. I didn't get a black eye from hitting it on the table," he clarified.

"How did you get it then?" asked Burt.

"I got hit," Kurt said. Burt went to ask further before Kurt said, "Well, technically, I got hit with my phone. It wasn't fists or anything. I had my phone thrown at me and it hit me in the eye pretty hard."

"They threw your phone at you? Why did the bullies have your phone?" asked Burt.

"It wasn't the bullies," said Kurt.

"You mean... you mean that Alex did that?" Burt questioned. Kurt couldn't physically answer. He just nodded, avoiding eye contact with his father. "Has... has he done anything else like that?"

Kurt was squeezing Blaine's arm extremely tight now, but Blaine just reached over with the fingers of his other hand and soothed the back of his hand. "H-he gets an-angry," Kurt stammered. "He never m-means to do anything, b-but sometimes he j-just gets so angry a-and ..." Kurt was unable to finish that sentence, so he just skipped the ending. "He's always s-so sorry afterwards. H-he apologises and buys m-me nice things and p-promises to make it up to me." Blaine was sure that the blood to his hand was cut off by this point, but he didn't make to move Kurt's hand.

"He... He's been _hurting_ you?" Burt asked. Kurt just nodded. "How bad? How long? I swear, when I get my hands on that kid." Burt stood up, kicking his chair back in anger and balling his fists.

"P-please, don't get angry," Kurt whimpered, moving to wrap his arms around himself. "I-I'm so sorry, dad."

"_You're_ sorry? **_You're _**sorry? Kurt, this kid has been hurting you! He's the one who's going to be sorry!"

"Dad..." Kurt started, but Burt turned on Blaine instead.

"You knew about this? You knew about this and you didn't tell me?" he yelled.

"I'm sorry, Mr Hummel," Blaine said. "I really did want to tell you, but Kurt begged me not to and I didn't want to break his trust."

"Please, dad," said Kurt, quietly. "Blaine has been helping me. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have told anyone in the first place. He told me last night that if I didn't tell anyone he'd tell you himself. P-please don't blame Blaine, dad. I-I don't know where I'd be w-without him."

"How has he been helping you?" asked Burt.

"He recognised what was going o-on when he first started s-school here. He saw the way Alex treated me, they w-way I'd been distant with my friends. W-when Alex gets angry a-at me, if he hurts me, I g-go to Blaine's a-and he looks after me. He helps my bruises and wipes m-my tears and m-makes me feel better. H-he's been so good for me. He's made me feel like I'm actually w-worth something. Like I'm not the one in the wrong," Kurt stuttered. Burt's face softened and he turned to Blaine.

"Thank you," he said. "But I still want to know what's going on. How has he hurt you? How long has this been going on?"

"It's been going on for a few months," Kurt started. "At first it was just words. He made me feel worthless. Like he was the only one who would ever love me. Then he became more aggressive. Hitting, slapping, the occasional kick. It was always somewhere like my back, arms, legs; places that could be easily covered. The only times it hasn't been were when he threw my phone at me and I got a black eye and last night."

"What did he do last night?" asked Burt.

"He got angry and hit my face. He was really sorry afterwards. He put cream on my face and kept apologising, and I felt bad for him. Then I went to Blaine's and told him what had happened and he told me that it had gone on long enough and I had to tell someone," Kurt clarifed. "I used make up to cover the bruises so no one would see them."

"I want to see," said Burt.

"What?" asked Kurt.

"I want to see," Burt repeated. "Show me the bruises."

Kurt shot a confused look between his father and Blaine before he reached into his bag at his feet and rummaged around the baby wipes that he kept in case of slushy attacks. He pulled one out and used to to gently wipe at the makeup on his face, wincing slightly as he pressed down on the bruises, which were already beginning to change from a dark purpley colour to a soft yellow. He pulled the makeup wipe away from his face and faced his father to show him the damage.

"And the rest," Burt said, his fists clenching at his sides.

Kurt stood from his chair and lifted his shirt, not minding Blaine being there as it was something he'd already seen. He showed first the bruises littering his back and stomach and then moved to roll up his sleeves and show him the bruises on his arms. Burt continued to clench his fists.

"That's it. I'm going to kill that kid," he spat through his teeth, stepping away from Kurt and towards to door of the choir room.

"No, dad, please don't!" Kurt yelled after him. Burt turned back and stepped closer to Kurt.

"You think I'm going to let him get away with this? This is worse that what the bullies have ever done to you and he's someone who's supposed to love you? You really think I'm going to let him walk away scot-free?" Burt was just a step away from Kurt now, their faces just inches apart. Kurt wrapped his arms tighter around himself, as if to protect himself.

"I'm sorry, please don't be mad," Kurt whimpered, tears leaking from his eyes. "Please don't hurt me, please." Burt's face softened at his son's fear, the realisation that Kurt was probably used to people hurting him when they were angry. It made him just want to kill Alex more, but he first had to assure his son that not everyone was his abusive boyfriend.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Kurt," he said. "Come here." He opened his arms out for his son and Kurt stepped into them, burying his face into his dad's shirt and sobbing. "I'm sorry, Kurt. I feel like I've failed you. I didn't even know this was happening and this kid who has barely known you a few months notices straight away. What kind of father am I? I'm so sorry," he whispered into Kurt's hair.

"Don't be. I didn't - want you to know. That's - that's why I've been so - so distant with everyone," Kurt said brokenly, between sobs.

Burt just repeated, "I'm so sorry, Kurt."

Kurt didn't want to leave the safety of his father's arms, but he knew that he'd have to face Alex sooner or later. In fact, Alex had probably already been called out of lessons, his parents already in Figgins's office, he was probably curious and furious. Kurt stepped away from his father.

"We need to go see Figgins," he reminded him.

"Right," said Burt. "Blaine, you coming?"

"If Kurt wants me to," Blaine said.

"I do," Kurt clarified. Blaine nodded and approached Kurt, who immediately clung to his arm.

"And, erm, thanks kid," Burt said to Blaine. "For helping and getting Kurt to talk to someone. I'm honestly, truly, grateful."

"It's no problem, Mr Hummel. I just wanted to help, Kurt. He's my friend and I didn't want to see him get hurt," Blaine replied.

"Call me Burt, kid," said Burt. Blaine just nodded, his smile gentle. He'd be grinning if they weren't in the situation they were currently in.

* * *

When they reached Figgins's office, Kurt realised his thoughts had been correct. Alex sat in front of Figgins's desk, his father in the chair next to him, looking rather annoyed. Kurt assumed it was because he wasn't yet aware that anyone knew and was probably wondering why he'd been called in. Kurt took a deep breath and let go of Blaine's arm. If Alex saw him holding onto Blaine, he'd probably just get angrier.

Burt knocked on the door to the office and Figgins gestured for them to enter. Kurt refused to let himself meet Alex's gaze, even though he could see from the corner of his eye that Alex was watching him expectantly.

"Can someone please tell me what's going on now?" asked Alex. "And what is _he_ doing here?" He glared at Blaine.

Burt went to step forward and say something to him, but Kurt pulled him back and shot him a warning glare.

"Mr Hummel, Kurt, Blaine, please have a seat," the principal offered. They did just that, Kurt sitting between his father and his friend.

"So, I've spoken to our guidance councilor, Miss Pillsbury, and she's told me that Kurt came to see her this morning with a very serious accusation," Figgins explained. "An accusation concerning you, Mr Hughes." Alex's father turned to look at his son, but Alex was instead watching Kurt, his expression full of confusion. "It has been brought to our attention that Alex has been inflicting injuries on Kurt."

Kurt grabbed his father's arm as he heard the words, worried that he'd get angry again. Burt resorted to just glaring at Alex.

"I don't understand..." Alex said.

"Kurt has told us that you've been harming him due to your temper," Figgins clarified.

"What? You can't seriously believe that, he's obviously lying!" Alex argued.

Burt went to argue back, but Blaine got there first. "Oh don't pull that crap, I've seen the bruises, the fear, he's not lying about those. Why would he?"

"Who the hell involved you, Blake? You don't know anything about me or Kurt!" Alex yelled at him.

"First of all, it's Blaine. You know that, I know you do. And I got involved when Kurt came to me in tears and terrified because his boyfriend has been getting angry and hitting him," Blaine hissed, furiously.

"You need to keep your nose out of it. I thought we already had this conversation; you can't tell me how to treat my boyfriend. I don't know what your game is, but you know he's mine," Alex growled.

"I'm not yours!" Kurt finally yelled, speaking for the first time since entering the office. "I don't belong to you, Alex. Not anymore. You've hurt me and I let you get away with it because I thought you loved me and that you were the only person who would ever care about me. I let you apologise every time you got angry and took it out on me and I even blamed myself every time you hit me. I thought I was the one doing something wrong, because you were sweet and kind and loving and you had no other reason to hurt me. But know what? I can't take it anymore. I can't take getting scared every time someone so much as raises their voice. Flinching when someone makes sudden movements or steps too close. Blaine was right, I'm terrified. I have no self confidence, my friends all hate me and I'm terrified of getting hurt. But I'm not taking it anymore. Blaine's showed me that you're not the only one who cares for me. I have other people who actually care for me and don't hurt me. But I still feel worthless. I still have to remind myself that it's not my fault and that I'm not worthless!" Kurt was panting from the sheer amount of energy it took to force himself to admit that.

Everyone watched as Kurt finished, unsure of what to say. Figgins finally broke the silence by asking, "So, are the accusations true, Mr Hughes?"

"Yes, they're true. Everything he got is what he deserved," Alex growled. Burt stood up this time, raising his clenched fists in Alex's direction, but Kurt held him back.

"You're gonna get in trouble, dad," he reminded him.

"He can't talk about you like that, Kurt," Burt hissed, but allowed Kurt to pull him back into his seat.

"Right, thank you for being honest with us, Mr Hughes," Principal Figgins said. "But I have no choice but to expel you. I can't have you being a threat to another student. I'll also have to suggest to your parents that they put you into therapy." Alex's father, who had failed to speak up until this point nodded, looking ashamed. "I apologise, but as of now, you are no longer a student at McKinley."

"What? You can't do that!" Alex yelled. "Kurt, you can't let them do that to us."

Kurt's breath hitched and tears welled in his eyes. "They're not doing anything to us, Alex. You're the one who did this," he whimpered.

"So you're breaking up with me?" Kurt didn't reply. He just stared ahead, avoiding Alex's gaze. "I see. I bet _he_ has something to do with this, doesn't he? You been seeing him behind me back? You know he doesn't care about you, right? He just wants to get in your pants." Kurt still refused to answer, instead just holding onto his father who was practically shaking in effort to stop himself from reacting. "Fine. Fine, whatever. Enjoy your life, Kurt. You have no one who cares about you, no one who will ever love you. How could someone love you? You're just a worthless, whiny, frigid little bitch." And with that, Alex stormed out of Figgins's office. Kurt let a little sob escape his lips and refused to look at anyone.

"I'm so sorry," Alex's father finally spoke up. "I'm so sorry for Alex's behaviour. I had no idea he was treating someone like this. He won't get away with it, he can consider himself being punished for a while and put into therapy. I'm very sorry." And with that, Alex's father stood and left.

Blaine put a comforting arm around Kurt, who immediately lent into the touch and sobbed into Blaine's shirt. His dad rubbed his shoulder soothingly.

"Well, it's nearly the end of the day anyway, so Kurt you may go home, but I do recommend therapy for you too. I understand this has been a terrifying and scarring ordeal for you," Figgins said.

"Come on, Kurt, I'll take you home," Burt offered.

"But I have glee," Kurt argued, quietly.

"You don't have to go to glee. I'm sure you can skip it this once. You've had an awful day," Blaine assured him.

"No, I need to go to glee. I want to apologise to everyone and explain what's been happening. Th-they deserve to know. They were my best friends and they deserve to know what's happened," Kurt said.

"Are you sure?" asked Blaine.

"I'm sure," Kurt said. "I want to go to glee."

* * *

Kurt and Blaine were the first ones in the choir room as they'd left Principal Figgins's office a good 10 minutes before school had finished. Burt had hugged his son, apologising again and getting him to promise to go to him if there was ever anything wrong again. Kurt and Blaine had then gone and sat in the choir room and waited, Kurt curled into Blaine's side as Blaine whispered encouraging words to him. Eventually, people started coming in. Non of them asked Kurt why he hadn't attended their last lesson or why he was upset, but he understood. He usually lied when he'd been asked these questions previously, or ignored the person completely. When everyone was in the choir room, Mr Schuester entered and Kurt immediately approached him and asked if he could speak to the group before they began the weekly assignment. He agreed and Kurt went and stood before the group. Most of them seemed confused about Kurt suddenly speaking up, not to mention the bruises still uncovered on his face.

"Hey, guys," he started. "I guess I have a lot of explaining to do to you guys about why I've been so distant and such a bad friend, especially to some of you," his eyes met Mercedes's," but first of all, I have a song to perform. I - erm - Blaine could you do the piano for me?" Blaine nodded and went over to sit at the piano. Kurt went in his bag and found a folder he had containing sheet music. He found the song he was looking for and handed it to Blaine, who began playing the first notes of the song. Kurt smiled at him before proceeding to sing.

_I wish I could Bubble Wrap my heart,_  
_In case I fall and break apart,_  
_I'm not God, I can't change the stars,_  
_And I don't know if there's life on Mars,_  
_But I know you're hurt,_  
_People that you love and those who care for you,_  
_I want nothing to do with the things you're going through._

Kurt looked up to see that most of the club were looking at one another, their expressions confused or intrigued. A few of them even looked on in sadness and pity. That was the last thing he wanted. Pity.

_This is the last time,_  
_I give up this heart of mine,_  
_I'm telling you that I'm_  
_A broken man who's finally realised._  
_You're standing in moonlight,_  
_But you're black on the inside,_  
_Who do you think you are to cry?_  
_This is goodbye._

He tried to will away the tears that were in his eyes as he sang. His heart felt like it was throbbing painfully in his throat, but he continued to sing.

_I'm a little dazed and confused,_  
_Life's a bitch and so are you._  
_All my days have turned into nights,_  
_'Cause living without, without, without you in my life._  
_And you wrote the book on how to be a liar,_  
_And lose all your friends,_  
_Did I mean nothing at all?_  
_Was I just another ghost that's been in your bed?_

By this point, his emotions were clear in his voice and he allowed the tears to fall freely. He couldn't hold it in any longer.

_This is the last time,_  
_I give up this heart of mine,_  
_I'm telling you that I'm_  
_A broken man who's finally realised..._

_This is the last time,_  
_I give up this heart of mine,_  
_I'm telling you that I'm_  
_A broken man who's finally realised._  
_You're standing in moonlight,_  
_But you're black on the inside,_  
_Who do you think you are to cry?_  
_This is goodbye._

_This is goodbye._

When he finished the song, he wiped at his eyes and nose and looked up at the group before him. They all looked confused and upset, but mostly intrigued. They clapped, slowly and pitifully and Kurt took a deep breath.

"I haven't been very honest with you guys. I've pushed you away and I've probably hurt a few of you. I want to first apologise, I know I shouldn't have done that... As you all know I started dating Alex about five months ago. It was an exciting thing for me, and for you guys too, I guess. I was lonely before and I thought I'd finally found someone who would fill that little hole in my heart that friendship alone couldn't fill. But not long after we started dating, he began to get angry and possessive. He said some things to me. He made me feel like I was worthless and like I didn't deserve anyone. He somehow convinced me that you guys didn't love me, only he did. And so I kept away from you guys. I thought that you just pitied me. I didn't and don't want pity.

"He became a bit more aggressive. He began hitting me, hurting me. My body is covered in bruises." He gestured to his face. "It got worse. Every time he became angry he's hurt me, with words and physical pain. It's been happening ever since. When Blaine came, he saw something in me that only those close to me could see, and as no one was close to me anymore, no one saw. He figured out what was going on and he has taken care of me. He's proved to me that I'm not what Alex said I was. And last night, when I showed up to his house in tears and looking like this, he told me he'd had enough and that I had to speak to someone. So I did. I spoke to Miss Pillsbury and she told me I had to speak to the Principal. Alex admitted to what he'd done and now he's been expelled. I... I'm still hurt about perhaps never seeing him again, he was the only thing I knew for so many months, but I know what he did was wrong now.

"So I want to apologise. To you guys. I'm sorry I cut you guys out. I'm sorry I've been horrible to people who were meant to be my best friends. I know you all hate me now, but I am really sorry," Kurt said. He took a deep breath and moved his hand to wipe the tears away. No one had spoken yet, and he had avoided looking at the group until now, but as he raised his eyes, he realised that the group looked upset, ashamed even. The girls had tears in their eyes, the guys looked pained.

It was Mercedes who approached first, wrapping her arms tightly around Kurt's waist and burying her head into his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Kurt. I shouldn't have given up, I should have seen something was so wrong. I'm so, so sorry," she sobbed, holding her friend tight.

"No, please don't apologise. I'm the one who's sorry," Kurt said.

One by one, the group came up and hugged him, each with an apology or a promise to look after and watch out for him. One by one, they assured him that it was okay, that he had friends and that everything was going to be okay. And for the first time in a long time, Kurt felt like his life might return to the way it was again.

* * *

**_The song in this chapter is Bubble Wrap by McFly._**


	10. Chapter 10

Blaine would have loved to have said that after that everything was perfect, but that would be a huge lie. Kurt was anything but fine. Blaine noticed that he struggled with his relationships with New Directions. It didn't help that they were so clingy. Mercedes and Rachel were especially excited about the return of Kurt's friendship and immediately bombarded him with shopping trips and sleepovers. It also didn't help that the boys were attempting to be the best 'brothers' possible to Kurt, which involved a lot of greetings with hard slaps on the back and rough grabs. Blaine couldn't help but notice he'd flinch every time.

Kurt was also still upset about his ex. He tried to hide it, but Blaine wasn't fooled. Kurt still disappeared every lunch time and Blaine didn't question it, thinking the boy simply needed space. However, a week after Alex had left, Kurt's lack of presence was questioned by the others.

"Where's Kurt?" asked Finn.

"I've been thinking that," said Rachel. "He hasn't shown up to lunch all week."

"Do you think we should go and find him?" piped up Mercedes. Rachel nodded, but Blaine stood before anyone else had chance.

"Erm, I'll go find him," Blaine offered. "I think I know where he might be." Before anyone could argue, he rushed out of the cafeteria and towards the sports field. Sure enough, he heard the muffled sobs as soon as he approached the back of the bleachers. He poked his head around the corner and saw Kurt, curled up in a ball with his head in his knees and his body shaking as he cried.

"Kurt?" Blaine asked quietly as he approached, not wanting to scare the boy. As soon as he spoke, Kurt's head snapped up and he wiped at his eyes furiously.

"Blaine," Kurt said, his voice broken and rough. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see if you're okay," Blaine explained. He dropped down on the ground next to Kurt and crossed his legs. "Obviously you're not. So, come on. Tell me what's wrong."

"You're going to think I'm stupid," Kurt whispered.

"I could never think you're stupid, Kurt," said Blaine. "You know you can tell me anything and I'll never think you're stupid."

"I..." Kurt sniffed and began again. "I miss him," he admitted. "I know you probably think that's ridiculous, after everything that happened. I know now that what he did was wrong and it wasn't my fault, but he was all I knew for so long. He was all I had. I don't know how to go into the cafeteria and eat lunch with everyone and act like it's okay, because it's not." A whole new batch of fresh tears began to spill down Kurt's cheeks and he blinked them away. "I know I need to move on with my life, I know I need to rekindle relationships with my friends and get back to normal, but it's hard to act as if nothing happened. And I know that people are there for me, but I feel lonely. I feel so stupid saying that."

"No, Kurt, it's not stupid. It's completely understandable. Come here." Blaine shuffled a little closer to Kurt and put an arm around him, allowing Kurt to rest his head on Blaine's chest. "I know this is hard for you, Kurt, and I don't want to push you into doing anything you're not ready for and if you're not ready to be surrounded by the glee guys or eat lunch in the cafeteria then you don't have to. I know the guys are a bit excited about getting you back and they can be a bit overwhelming, but don't feel like you have to pretend that everything's okay for their sake. And I can completely understand you missing Alex. He was what your life revolved around for so long and him not being here is breaking routine and normality. But it's okay. We can get a new routine and make a new normal."

Kurt sniffed, looking up through his lashes at Blaine. "How come you always know the right thing to say?" he laughed.

"Because I'm awesome," Blaine replied with a grin.

"Modest too, huh?"

"The modesest," said Blaine.

"Stop making up words. You're making me doubt your intelligence. Maybe you get all these speeches and reassuring words from self help books or something," Kurt said with a smile.

"I will never share my secrets," Blaine whispered, smirking. He thought for a moment before his expression turned serious. "I don't mean to be a party pooper, but I was wondering if you've arranged any therapy. I think it might be useful."

Kurt looked at the ground for a moment before looking up at Blaine. His eyes however continued to stray every few seconds and break contact with Blaine's as he spoke. "Yes, erm, my dad booked me in next week. I think he feels bad about what happened. He's doing everything he can to make sure I'm okay 24/7. I'm really grateful that he wants me to be okay, but it can feel kind of confined when he's hovering over me all the time. Especially when sometimes I just want to be alone," Kurt said.

"He just worries about you. I think you made him realise how much he can miss if he doesn't pay enough attention. But it's good that he's looking out for you. How do you feel about therapy?"

"I'm nervous. Scared, even. I'm going to have to tell a complete stranger secrets that I kept from my closest friends for months, give them details that even my friends and family don't know. I know I'll have to otherwise I'm not going to get anywhere, but it doesn't make me less scared," Kurt admitted.

"You know you won't have to tell them everything straight away," Blaine assured him. "You can go at your own pace. If you want, you don't have to even talk about anything involving what happened until you're 100% comfortable. Sure, the process is slower, but if you're not comfortable then you don't have to."

"You sound as if you talk from experience," Kurt commented.

"Erm, I actually had a lot of therapy after Sadie Hawkins. It really shook me up and at first I refused to talk about it. I didn't trust my therapist, so for the first set of sessions she literally talked about nothing related. We talked about sports and celebrities and I remember one session we even had a talk about guys, but eventually I told her what had happened and we worked it all out from there," Blaine explained.

"I'm sorry," Kurt said.

"It's okay. I'm better now," Blaine replied. "Remember though, if you need to talk then you have me. I'll even come to therapy with you if you need me there, but I'm sure you'll need some one-on-one time with your therapist eventually."

"Thanks," Kurt whispered with a grin.

"No problem. Do you have lunch?" asked Blaine.

"No," said Kurt.

"We'll go halfsies on a PB+J then," Blaine said, untangling himself from Kurt to reach into his bag for his lunch. He handed half of the sandwich to Kurt, who took it gratefully. "Oh and I nearly forgot to ask. You don't have to if you don't want to, but are you up for going out next weekend? My brother is coming into town on Friday for my birthday and we'll have a family dinner that night and then we're going out with the Warblers on Saturday and they'll sleep over until Sunday. You can stay for the whole weekend if you like, but only if you want. Don't feel obligated to."

"Wait, birthday?" asked Kurt.

"Yeah, it's next Sunday," said Blaine. "I don't really do birthdays, but my parents and Cooper both insisted that 18 is a big deal and I should have some form of celebration."

"18? But you're my year group..."

"Oh, yeah, when everything happened with my mum, I missed a lot of school and the bit I didn't miss I was too distressed to actually do any work. So I got held back a year."

"I thought you looked older when I first saw you!" Kurt exclaimed. "I can't believe I didn't know it's your birthday, I'm such a terrible friend!"

"How would you have known? I never told you. And you've had a lot going on, I don't blame you," said Blaine.

"But still. I feel bad. Would your friends and family be okay with me coming next weekend?" asked Kurt.

"Of course! My mom keeps asking when you're coming back and the Warblers adored you. They're forever asking about you," Blaine reassured him.

"I'm not that great," said Kurt.

"Trust me, you're amazing. So are you in? You don't have to," said Blaine. "I'd understand."

"No, I'm definitely in!" Kurt grinned.

"Fantastic!" Blaine said, returning Kurt's grin. There was a moment of comfortable silence where the pair simply smiled at one another, until Kurt broke it.

"Blaine. I don't suppose you could do me a favour?" he asked.

"Anything," said Blaine.

"Well, I'm trying to get back to normal with the New Directions, and I agreed to shopping with some of the girls this Saturday, but I'm still not completely comfortable eating lunch with them. I think it's the crowds and the confinement and the noise of the cafeteria, but I just feel more comfortable out here. You can say no if you want to, but could you maybe come here with me some lunch times? Maybe once a week or something. I just... I get lonely and sometimes getting caught in my thoughts isn't the best thing," Kurt requested.

"Of course I will Kurt. I'll eat here everyday if you want. In fact, I'd be honoured to be in your presence," Blaine said, bowing slightly at his last sentence.

"The PB+J is turning you into a five year old isn't it?" giggled Kurt.

"Maybe. Now what do you say we get to class early and goof off in the classroom? asked Blaine.

"I say, that sound likes a brilliant idea," Kurt said with a smile.


	11. Chapter 11

It was Thursday night and Blaine was on the phone to Wes. "So, how's Kurt?" asked Wes, turning the conversation to the subject that he'd been dying to cover.

"Better," said Blaine. "I've been having lunch with him every day and slowly he's beginning to gain back some confidence. He smiles a lot more now too. He's started therapy today, actually. I was going to go, but he decided he'd rather try and go alone."

"Is he coming to your birthday?"

"Yes, I said he could come to dinner on the Friday with me and my parents and Coop and then sleepover until Sunday," confirmed Blaine.

"Brilliant! Nick's been dreaming of those pancakes he made since we last saw him. And it'll be nice for him to be there. I'm glad that you've made new friends at McKinley. As long as you don't forget about us, of course!" Wes joked.

"Sorry, what was your name again?" Blaine teased. "No, but seriously, I'm glad too. Kurt's awesome and I really enjoy spending time with him. I just can't wait until all of this is behind him and he can live a nice, stress free life."

"When do you think he'll be ready to start dating again?" inquired Wes.

"Probably not for a while. He needs to find someone he trusts enough to date. And after all the trauma, he's still a bit jumpy around even the guys in glee. Why do you ask? Do you know someone that's interested in him? You know we were joking about Nick leaving Jeff for him, right?"

"I know you were joking; I'm not talking about Nick. Niff will split up the day that you get rid of your bow ties," Wes chuckled.

"We both know that's never going to happen," Blaine replied. "No, but seriously, do you know someone who's interested in Kurt?"

"Someone's eager."

"I just want to know. He's like my best friend, Wes," Blaine said.

Wes gasped dramatically. "I've been replaced!" he declared. "I thought you were my BGFFL!"

"BGFFL?" Blaine asked.

"Best Gay Friend For Life! And David is my BSFFL!" Wes clarified.

"Well, in that case, you are my BSFFL and Kurt is my BGFFL," Blaine chuckled.

"Glad we cleared that up. There's no way you're getting rid of me. No matter what school you go to or what town you live in you are not getting rid of me!"

"Darn it! I'll just have to move out of the country," Blaine said.

"That won't work, Blainey boy. I will find you. I have trackers hidden among your curls!" Wes joked.

"That's what those lumps are!" said Blaine. He heard Wes call to someone on the other end of the phone before bringing it back to his ear.

"Sorry to leave you Blaine, but the mother is calling. Apparently, the table can't wait another 2 minutes and must be laid now!"

"I'd hurry if I were you," said Blaine. "That may be the only thing that you ever get to lay!"

"I hate my friends," Wes stated.

"Shut up and go before your mom gets pissed," Blaine chuckled.

"Okay, I'm going! See you at the weekend, dude," Wes said.

"See you, man!"

* * *

On Friday, Kurt went straight home to get ready for dinner with Blaine and his family. He hated that he was missing a Friday night dinner, but at the same time he was so glad he was going to be with Blaine's family instead. Ever since what happened with Alex, his dad had been a typical helicopter parent. Everything he did or said was questioned. Every time he wanted a little privacy he was followed into his room by his father or, on his dad's request, Finn. So Kurt usually found himself escaping to Blaine's nowadays in order to get a little peace and quiet. Blaine's family treated him completely normally. They certainly didn't treat him like he was fragile.

As soon as Kurt had got dressed and added a few more things to his weekend bag, he hurried downstairs to say goodbye to his father and Carole. He popped his head around the door to the kitchen where Carole was and she gave him a kiss on the cheek and told him to enjoy his weekend. When he went to say goodbye to his dad, however, he was a little more protective.

"You sure you're going to be okay, Kurt?" Burt asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine, dad," Kurt assured him.

"You'll be okay for the whole weekend? I mean, I know you have our numbers and if you need anything then you know how to reach us, but are you sure you want to go?"

"Yes, dad, if I didn't want to go then I wouldn't. I'm fine, okay?"Kurt said.

"I'm just not sure if you should be away from home for so long after such a traumatic experience," Burt said.

"Dad, please. I'm fine," Kurt pleaded.

"Fine. I just... I worry about you," Burt admitted.

"I know, dad. But I'm safe with Blaine. I promise, I'll be perfectly fine," Kurt said.

"Okay, if you're sure. Go on then, you'd best be off. Don't want to be late for Blaine's," Burt said.

"I'll see you on Sunday, okay?" said Kurt. He quickly wrapped his arms around his dad and kissed his rough, stubbly cheek.

"Bye, Kurt. Love you," Burt called out as Kurt left.

"Bye, dad!"

Burt waited for the door shutting to indicate his son leaving and then leaned forward, resting his head in his hands and sighing.

* * *

"Kurt!" greeted Linda as she opened the door. She inspected him from his purple dress shirt down to his shiny black shoes. "Oh, don't you look handsome, honey."

"Why, thank you, Linda," Kurt grinned. "I must say I love your dress. Is it Burberry?" he asked, motioning to her black and white unevenly checked dress.

"Yes, I'm glad you noticed. Andrew bought it for me as a special 30th birthday present. I adore it!" Linda grinned.

"Well, you look stunning!" Kurt said.

"Thank you," Linda replied. "Blaine's upstairs getting ready if you want to go straight up. Cooper should be here soon too."

"Okay," Kurt said with a smile, before lifting his bag and hurrying up the stairs to Blaine's room. When he got there he rapped quietly on the door.

"Come in!" called Blaine from inside. As soon as Kurt opened the door Blaine began babbling. "I need to choose a bow tie. What do you think, mom, black or white or should I have something a bit more colourful?" He stopped when he turned and saw Kurt. "Oh, Kurt, I didn't hear the doorbell."

"I didn't know you had _that_ many bow ties," Kurt commented, nodding towards to rows of bow ties laid out behind Blaine. Blaine's cheeks reddened. "Aw, don't be embarrassed, Blaine. I happen to appreciate your approach to fashion," Kurt assured him.

"Thanks, Kurt. Little help?" he asked.

Kurt surveyed Blaine's outfit. He was dressed in a black and white check shirt with an eggshell white sweater over the top of it and black dress pants. The sweater was tight and clung to Blaine's slim frame, leaving the dress pants to compliment his small waist. Kurt considered the bow ties for a moment before picking up the white one and handing it to him.

"I'd keep the style consistent. If you had a colourful bow tie it would look out of place," Kurt recommended.

"Thank you, Kurt. I don't know how I would go on without your fashion advice," Blaine said, grinning at his friend.

"Blaine!" Andrew called from downstairs. "Cooper's here!"

"Be right down, dad!" Blaine called. "Right," he said to Kurt. "I'll just put these back in the closet and then I'll take you to meet Cooper." He began to gather the bow ties -very carefully Kurt noticed- and put them away in a draw in his closet. Then he lead Kurt out of his room and downstairs, talking to him along the way. "I'm going to apologise in advance for Coop. He can be a bit much sometimes, so just tell me if I need to have words with him."

"Blaine, I'm sure it'll be fine," Kurt assured him.

"Blaine? That you?" a voice called from the living room and a head came out from around the door. "Ah, there you are baby bro!" A man came out into the hall and opened his arms for Blaine, who ran into them immediately and tucked his head into their shoulder.

"Cooper! I've missed you!" Blaine said, his voice muffled by Cooper's shirt.

"Missed you too, bro," Cooper said into his brother's hair. Another moment passed before Blaine stepped out of Cooper's arms. "And who's this?" Cooper gestured to Kurt. "He's not Asian enough to be Wes, not black enough to be David, not chubby enough to be Trent and he doesn't have another person attached to him so he can't be either of Niff."

"Cooper, this is Kurt," Blaine introduced him. "He's a friend from my new school. Kurt, this is my brother, Cooper."

"It's nice to meet you," Kurt said, politely, offering a hand for Cooper to shake.

"You too, Kurt," Cooper said, taking Kurt's hand. "This is a polite one, Blaine. Cute too." Kurt's cheeks reddened slightly, and Cooper chuckled. "I'd keep this guy around," he said.

"Cooper!" Linda called as she hurried down the stairs and ran up to Cooper, wrapping him up in her arms. "How are you? How was your flight?"

"I'm great, thanks Linda. As was my flight. Gotta say, I love this place. I was just saying to Andrew how much I like the living room. I take it Blaine's took advantage of it when he's had the guys over?" said Cooper.

"Of course he has," Andrew chuckled.

"Knew you would have, bro. Come on then, birthday boy. Shall we get some dinner in us?" Cooper suggested.

"Yes, let's get going," Blaine said and shot a grin in Kurt's direction.

* * *

When they arrived at the restaurant, they settled down at a table. Kurt immediately felt guilty as soon as they opened the menus and realised the prices, but Blaine saw his eyes widen and gave his arm a squeeze with a whisper that he didn't even need to look at the price and to just get what he wanted. Cooper noticed the action, but didn't mention anything.

They discussed the plans for the weekend as they waited for their food and conversation soon turned to Kurt. "So, Kurt, how did you and Blaine come to be friends?" Cooper asked.

"Erm, actually, he literally ran into me on his first day of school. I dropped my books everywhere and he helped me pick them up. We got talking and he mentioned being in glee club at his old school so I invited him to our glee club," Kurt explained.

"You sing?" Cooper asked and Kurt nodded in response. "You any good?"

"Oh, I'm not too great," Kurt said.

"He's being modest. He's amazing. His voice is just perfect. He's a countertenor," Blaine insisted.

"I'm really not that good," Kurt said.

"Don't listen to him. He's brilliant," said Blaine.

"I'll have to hear you sometime," Cooper chuckled.

Conversation paused momentarily as the food arrived and then they chatted idly over their dinners. Kurt excused himself to the bathroom once he'd finished and Cooper scooted his chair a little closer to his brother's.

"So, bro, what's going on with Kurt, huh?" Cooper asked.

"What do you mean?" said Blaine.

"Just, you guys seem rather... cosy," Cooper explained.

"I...He's my best friend," Blaine replied.

"But, you like him, right?"

"Of course I do, he's my best friend," Blaine repeated.

"Oh, you know what I mean, Blaine. I'm talking middle school _like_ like," Cooper clarified.

"I... erm, I don't know..." Blaine stammered. "I never really thought about it."

"Why not? I take it Kurt's gay, yeah?" Blaine nodded. "And he's an attractive guy. You seem to have a lot in common. Why not?"

"Kurt's been through a lot," Blaine explained. "I don't have time to tell you everything that's happened, but let's just say Kurt was in a relationship with a complete dick when I met him and now his ex had been expelled for harm to another student and Kurt's got both physical and mental scars."

"Oh, shit. Is he okay?"

"He's getting there," Blaine said.

"Just... look out for him," Cooper said.

"I will, Cooper," Blaine said, sharing a sad smile with his brother, who gave him a friendly clap on the shoulder. Both of them grinned as Kurt returned from the bathroom.


	12. Chapter 12

The rest of the dinner went nicely. Blaine couldn't stop grinning like an idiot the whole way through. Kurt just got on so well with his family; he talked fashion with his mother, cars with his father, Hollywood with his brother. Kurt fit in so well. But ever since speaking to Cooper he couldn't help but think about how he felt towards Kurt. Yes, Kurt was his best friend and yes, when he'd first met him he'd developed a bit of a crush, but that had kind have been forgotten when Blaine found out about Alex. Did Blaine still feel that way? He wasn't sure. His main priority at that moment was to make Kurt better and he knew, whether his feelings for Kurt developed into something more or not, that was the way he would always think.

Once they'd finished dinner, they made their way back to Blaine's. They all changed into their pyjamas before collapsing onto the sofa to watch a film before bed. As it was Blaine's birthday weekend, he got to choose, and Blaine being Blaine, he decided that Finding Nemo was the best choice. They watched it quietly and about a quarter of the way through, Blaine felt a head droop onto his shoulder. He turned his head ever so slightly and found Kurt dosing quietly against him. He smiled at the boy and rested his head against Kurt's hair. It wasn't long before he felt his own eyes drooping.

"Is he asleep?" he heard his mom whisper.

"I think so," Cooper replied.

Blaine was too tired to clarify that he was actually awake and so he kept his eyes closed.

"He and Kurt seem close," Cooper commented. "They seem to make each other happy."

"Yeah, they do," Linda said. "I'm glad they have each other. I don't know what would have happened to Kurt if he didn't have Blaine. I dread to think of it actually."

"How bad was it?" asked Cooper.

"Blaine didn't go too far into detail but he didn't need to. I saw how Kurt was when he'd show up at ours late at night in tears. His ex boyfriend got angry a lot apparently and he took it out on Kurt. When Kurt first admitted he'd been harmed, it was because he'd gotten a black eye from having his phone thrown at him and he couldn't excuse it. He's still covered in bruises. But it's not just the bruises. He's been taught that he's worthless and that no one will ever love him and he's having a hard time believing otherwise. I think Blaine's the only one he truly trusts at the moment," Linda explained.

"I'm glad Blaine's there for him then. It just sucks that he's had to experience this sort of abuse before and now he's having to deal with the aftermath of it. At least it wasn't as bad this time as it was before," Cooper said.

"I think Blaine was worried that it would be," said Andrew. "He was worried sick about Kurt."

"Well, I'm just glad that that's all over now. Kurt seems to be recovering well," Cooper said.

"Yeah, he's started therapy and he has good friends and family supporting him. I think he'll be okay," said Linda.

"And he and Blaine?" asked Cooper, curiously.

"Currently inseparable best friends, but with the way Blaine looks at him, I'm sure there could be more in the future," Linda explained.

"We should probably wake them up and get them to bed," Andrew said.

"They look too adorable to move, but I guess they'll get cricks in their necks if they don't," Linda argued.

"How about we let them be adorable for a little while longer?" Cooper suggested and Blaine was grateful for his brother as he snuggled closer to his best friend and let himself fall asleep.

* * *

The next day was a bit of a rush. Kurt and Blaine had woken up in Blaine's bed, neither of them particularly remembering the groggy journey up to his room guided by his mother, and immediately went for showers. When they were both dried and dressed, they chatted animatedly over breakfast of toast and jam. They styled their hair side by side in the bathroom mirror and when both of them were ready, they went to leave to meet the Warblers. They had decided to go bowling, after Blaine had convinced Kurt that wearing pre-worn shoes wasn't going to kill him and the amount of germs in a bowling ball probably wasn't much different to the amount of germs on clothing racks at shops.

They met Wes, David, Trent, Thad, Nick and Jeff at the bowling alley and split into two teams. Blaine, Kurt, Nick and Jeff played together and Wes, David, Thad and Trent played together.

"I can see how you decided who's with who, Wes," Blaine commented as Wes put their names in.

"I totally didn't go with gay and straight. Actually, I knew you'd want to be with Kurt and I didn't want Niff because I know they're going to be all cute and stuff so I thought I'd stick them with you two as you'll tolerate them," Wes defended. He stepped away from the controls, grinning.

"Oh god, what nicknames have you put in for us?" asked Blaine, groaning as he looked up at the screen. "Really? Frodo is the best you could come up with?"

"Hey! It's a classic and you're not losing it that easily," said Wes.

"Well, as Blaine is Frodo and I take it Nick and Jeff are Niff 1 and Niff 2, why am I CGCB?" asked Kurt.

"Because Cute Glee Club Boy wouldn't fit!" explained Wes. Blaine resisted the urge to groan again.

"I'm not even going to bother asking," Kurt said.

"Okay, Wes, you're going to have to explain who's who," said David, nodding towards their screen.

"Okay, David, you're Blaise Zabini. You can blame Blaine for that one as he made us watch Harry Potter so many times that I actually bothered to learn his name. Trent, you're sunshine, because you're the sunshine of the Warblers and Thad, you're Lord Snooty. I mean, you yell 'you mock us, sir!' at nearly every Warbler meeting!" Wes explained.

"Leaving you as King of Awesome?" asked Blaine.

"Our names have to reflect our true selves!" Wes argued.

"I see..." Thad commented. "Well, can we ignore Wes's stupid nicknames and get bowling? I want to kick his ass!"

Nick and Jeff both bowled before Kurt and Blaine, and sure enough they took the opportunity to be cute straight away when Nick insisted he had never bowled and Jeff took his hands to show him how.

"Have you bowled before?" Blaine asked Kurt.

"Yes, but I was 7 years old and I think my mom did most of the work for me," Kurt chuckled. "I will ignore any mocking behaviour if I completely fail at this."

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Blaine assured him. "I haven't been in a long time so I'm probably going to stink."

"I can't imagine you not being good at something," Kurt admitted.

"There are a lot of things I'm awful at," Blaine said.

"Still can't imagine it. Go on then. It's your turn now," Kurt said nodding towards where Nick and Jeff were making their way back to the bench where everyone else was seated.

"Wish me luck," Blaine said with a wink. He strolled over to collect a ball before lifting it, sending his arm back and quickly snapping it back forwards. In the end, he managed to knock down seven pins the first time and a further two on his next bowl.

"See, good at everything!" Kurt laughed, passing him to take his own turn. He chose an emerald green ball that fitted his fingers perfectly and looked straight ahead at the pins before sending the ball flying down the alley. It smashed straight into the middle pin, effectively knocking down the nine behind it. He grinned at his achievement and made his was back to Blaine and the Warblers who were all gaping.

"Look, I got a strike," he stated proudly.

"How did you do that? It was like, perfect!" Blaine said.

"I'm sure it was a fluke," Kurt replied and took a seat between his friends, unable to wipe the smile off his face.

* * *

"I still can't believe you got 5 strikes. I thought you hadn't done this in years," said Blaine, as he pulled open his menu. They'd finished bowling and had decided to get lunch at a nearby restaurant before heading back to Blaine's.

"What can I say? My skills include sewing and painting, maybe I'm just good with my hands," Kurt replied. Wes burst out laughing and Kurt immediately blushed, realising how that could have been taken and apparently was taken by Wes.

"Sorry, Kurt, you set yourself up for that one," Wes chuckled.

"Ignore him, Kurt," Jeff said. "Wes constantly has his mind in the gutter."

"Can we once again just not think about Wes's idiocy and instead decide on some food?" asked Thad. "I'm starving!"

"You're always thinking about food!" complained Trent.

"Are you not?" asked Thad.

"I think about other things too," said Trent.

They all read their menus and individually decided what they wanted and after ordering chatted amongst themselves about their bowling scores.

"I'm not surprised that Jeff and Nick got the lowest scores. They used the majority of their turns to fondle one another," David said with a chuckle.

"We do not fondle one another!" Nick argued.

"In public," Jeff added quietly, earning himself a slap on the arm from his boyfriend.

"Don't want to know," Thad said. "If I start thinking about that then I'm going to get worse nightmares than I did that time that I came home a day early and found my sister and her boyfriend in the hot tub."

"Nightmares? But your sister's totally hot," David said. "I wouldn't mind finding that."

"Ew, that's my sister," Thad said.

"It's cool, bro. Though I'm not sure crushing on a sibling is completely normal, I think you should at least be able to admit that they're hot," David said.

"Can we please talk about something that's not how hot my sister is?" Thad asked.

"So you're admitting that she's hot?" said Wes.

"Shut up," Thad groaned.

"Don't worry about it Thad. Wes's brother is sex on a stick," said Nick. Wes looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Dude, don't say that! Come on Jeff, bitch him out!" Wes complained.

"I normally would, but I have to admit he is pretty much sex on a stick," Jeff said.

"I hate you guys," said Wes.

"Attention! I see food!" Thad interrupted.

"Could it be? Our food is here at long last?" David said, dramatically clutching at his chest.

The waitress approached their table and stopped, which lead to Thad beginning a cheer that all of the boys joined in on. When they'd all received their food, Blaine turned to Kurt.

"Still don't want to escape my friends?" he asked.

"Naw," said Kurt. "I told you, I like them and they're funny. Remember, my closest friends are the New Directions. I'm used to weird and dramatic!"

Blaine was sure, at that moment, that Kurt couldn't get any more perfect.


	13. Chapter 13

The weekend was going great. Kurt decided that he really liked Blaine's friends. They all treated him as if he were a long term friend and non of them asked questions that he was uncomfortable answering or that would upset him. He was sure that Blaine had informed them of at least the basics of his situation, but non of them acted differently around him or over protective. Instead, they just acted normally around him.

When they returned to Blaine's house, they all greeted Cooper and Blaine's parents and then immediately rushed upstairs to Blaine's room. They dumped their overnight bags in a corner and blew up the blow up beds that Trent had once again provided, before finding the best spot to watch movies from. Blaine sat in the middle of the headboard with Kurt and Wes either side of him, Trent and Jeff lay on their stomachs in front of them and David, Nick and Thad sat on a blow up bed on the floor at the foot of the bed. As Thad was closest, he was responsible for putting on movies and changing them once they were finished. He started with the box of DVDs that was already out and looked through them to find a suitable fillm.

"I didn't know you had so many musicals," Thad commented, waving Gypsy before placing it back in the box. "I see you keep them with your Disney collection. They must be important!"

"I just have them out a lot," Blaine said. "Kurt and I watch them when he's over."

"I didn't know you were a fan of musicals," said David.

"Dude, I'm gay, I sing in a show choir, I read vogue. Of course I like musicals!" Blaine defended.

"Blaine's just a complete stereotype who likes to rebel by liking football and boxing," Wes commented.

"I think we all have a little stereotype in us," Blaine said.

"Yeah," agreed Nick. "I mean, Jeff loves baking! I'd say that's pretty stereotypical."

All heads turned to Jeff who playfully whacked his boyfriend on the arm. "Nick! You weren't meant to tell people that!"

"They were going to find out anyway!" Nick argued.

"Well, Nick is addicted to America's Next Top Model. It's like crack to him," Jeff chuckled.

"Screw you!" Nick moaned, narrowing his eyes.

"Later, baby," Jeff winked, causing the rest of the boys to groan.

"Guys! We don't want to know!" Trent yelled, covering his ears.

"Okay, well, ignoring those two, what are watching?" David asked.

"I say we have a Back To The Future marathon!" suggested Wes.

"No! I don't even like the third one," Thad complained. "And the first sucks in comparison to the second."

"Harry Potter marathon?" Blaine piped up.

"Really? You'll cry like a baby, you know that," said Wes.

"It's my birthday, I'll cry if I want to," Blaine argued.

"Fine, Harry Potter it is. Order pizza around the third one?" Thad suggested.

"Always thinking about food!" David commented, rolling his eyes. "You're okay with Harry Potter, aren't you, Kurt?"

"Of course! This is the guy who has a custom made Marauder's Map shirt!" Kurt laughed.

"Dude, that's so cool!" Trent grinned.

"Trent, your inner nerd is showing," laughed Jeff.

"Right, let's get this marathon on!" said Thad, and inserted the first disc.

* * *

The boys all fell asleep around 3 AM, somewhere during the fourth film after eating a lot of pizza and ice cream between them, to which Kurt complained that if he continued attending Warbler sleepovers, his skin and weight would be doomed from the amount they ate. In the morning, they all went downstairs to find Blaine's mom flipping pancakes and his dad and brother seated at the breakfast bar.

"Happy birthday!" they all cheered when they noticed Blaine had entered. Chairs were pulled up to the table in the dining room to make room for everyone and Blaine's mother served pancakes out to all of the boys.

"Thanks, Mrs A," said Nick. "Your pancakes are perfect as always!"

"As perfect as Kurt's?" asked David.

"You're kidding, right? Kurt's were like heaven on a plate. Hard to live up to that!" Nick laughed.

"When are you opening your presents?" asked Trent.

"I think you're more excited than me! Who says I've got presents?" Blaine jested.

"Just hush right there, we know you have presents as we've bought them for you so you can't even try that, Anderson," remarked Trent.

"Fine, after breakfast then?" replied Blaine.

When breakfast was finished and each boy was full, Blaine's mother came swanning into the room to clear away and gestured for the boys to go into the living room. Cooper and Andrew came in holding their own presents for Blaine and set them in front of him. As soon as Linda came back in, she insisted he begin opening straight away. Blaine's cheeks darkened as the attention turned on him to unwrap each present.

His parents had bought him new speakers for his music, several tickets to a football game of a team that Kurt was sure his dad had mentioned a few times and music editing software for his computer, as well as a few books, items of clothing and accessories. He thanked them over and over, taking his time to hug each parent gratefully. Cooper was next and gave his brother his present, which was small and in an envelope. He opened it to reveal two return tickets to LA for a week at new year. Blaine couldn't hold his joy and excitement as he ran at his brother and hugged him around the middle, a stream of thank yous coming from him. Cooper just chuckled and ruffled his hair, insisting he just wanted some bro time.

After presents from his family, Blaine insisted they go upstairs to open his friends' presents. He knew his friends and if they'd got him anything like they got him last year, then he definitely did not want to be opening them in front of his family. Sure enough, when they got upstairs, each of his friends searched their bags and produced two presents.

"They did this at Dalton," Blaine explained to Kurt. "For our birthdays, we'd buy two presents. One normal present that you could show to your parents and one present that I guess is a little more of a joke present."

"Me first, me first!" Wes insisted thrusting his bin bag at Blaine. Blaine opened it to find two gifts, both wrapped equally tragically, one much larger than the other. He decided to start with the big one. He tore at the paper to reveal a snow cone and slush maker. He wasn't really sure what to say, but he didn't have to think when he looked up at Kurt and realised Kurt was smirking.

"Don't get throwing those at me, Blaine," Kurt joked, leaving the Warblers confused and Blaine chuckling.

"Erm, thank you, Wes, I guess?" Blaine muttered, before reaching for the second gift. He quickly tore at the wrapping to find a copy of 50 Shades of Grey, to which he chuckled. "Thanks Wes. You always know what I want!"

Thad was next. He bought him a travel mug - "because you drink so much coffee," Thad had explained - and for his joke gift he'd gotten him a pole dancer alarm clock. Trent bought him a messenger bag and a mankini. David bought him a guitar case and an 'Inflatable Cock Fighting Set', a game involving inflatable penises that you strap to your body and fight with. Jeff bought him a sweater and a mug saying 'Blaine Anderson is a sex kitten'. And Nick bought him a set of bow ties and a little box containing sweets names 'cola cocks'.

Blaine was definitely glad he didn't open his presents in front of his parents.

He thanked each of them for their gifts and laughed at all the joke gifts, and was then handed a final present. He looked up to see Kurt grinning. "You didn't think I wouldn't get you anything, did you?" Kurt asked. Blaine smiled back at him and tore the wrapping off to reveal a box. He flipped the lid up and found inside an ID bracelet, the straps made of distressed brown leather and holding a silver plate stamped with the word 'COURAGE'. "I, erm, I know it seems tacky, but it's kind of a thank you for giving me the courage I needed. Plus, once I got the idea in my head it stuck."

"Thank you," Blaine whispered and immediately pulled the bracelet onto his wrist, tightening the leather straps so it fit snugly.

"Can we play with your presents?" Wes pleaded and Blaine rolled his eyes.

"Go for it," he consented, and shared a grin with Kurt.

* * *

**_[A/N] Just thought I'd mention that most of Blaine's birthday presents I found on a website called Menkind and God did I have a laugh looking through that website. And the bracelet is from Etsy and it's amazing! If you want to see it just message me because it's seriously perfect, and it's for men and for women. _**


	14. Chapter 14

Kurt's life was getting better. He was slowly becoming more comfortable around his old friends, even when Puck or Finn would get a little rough and gave him a hearty slap on the back. He'd even attended a sleepover at Mercedes's house, where they'd applied facemasks and watched Hairspray. Kurt had even managed to gush about how gorgeous Zac Efron was in that movie. He was beginning to feel like his old self and things were definitely looking up.

However, they say all good things come to an end and, sure enough, a dent was created in Kurt's happiness just a week after Blaine's birthday. They'd decided to go to the mall, Kurt being desperately in need of a new pair of shoes and Blaine just wanting to spend some time with his friend. They'd traipsed around stores, every so often Kurt pointing out a dress that would look good on Rachel or an accessory that would suit Blaine's outfit, and eventually they found a pair of shoes that Kurt deemed suitable. He tried them on, jumping a little and grinning in excitement, before paying for them. Blaine smiled at his friend as he watched the joy on his face. Kurt seemed so much happier.

They decided to go and get a coffee, after purchasing Kurt's shoes. They found a table in the coffee shop and Blaine offered to go and get both of their coffees whilst Kurt saved the table. He was sat, idly flicking through texts from the girls on his phone when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You were quick," he commented, turning to grin at Blaine, but his sight was not met with Blaine. It was met with Alex.

"Alex," was all that managed to leave his mouth.

"Hi, Kurt," Alex beamed. Kurt tried to twist away from the grip that Alex still had on his shoulder, but it was tight. "I can't believe I haven't seen you for nearly a month. I was going to text you, but my dad got me a new number so I lost all of my contacts and I couldn't remember your number by heart. I missed you so much."

"I… you… I don't…" Kurt stammered. He couldn't get his words out; his voice seemed stuck in his throat.

"I get it. You're a little shocked after everything that happened. But don't worry; I've forgiven you for what you did. I understand that you were angry at me for being jealous of Blaine. Maybe you could have handled it a little better, but it's okay. We'll get through this and make it work," Alex continued, his eyes not leaving Kurt's.

"But, I-," Kurt began, finally managing to move his mouth, but he was cut off.

"It's okay, you don't have to apologise. I know you said some things you didn't mean. I know you weren't the best boyfriend, but I love you so I can forgive you. That's what you want, right; for me to forgive you?" Alex's hand seemed even tighter. Kurt wasn't sure what to do. Should he run and find Blaine and get out of there? Should he try and convince Alex to leave him alone? Should he just go along with Alex? After all, he didn't want Alex to hurt him.

However, before he could make a decision, he heard the cry of "Hey!" come from behind Alex.

* * *

Blaine ordered his usual medium drip and Kurt's grande non-fat mocha as well as a sugar cookie and a couple of caramel wafers that they could share. The woman grinned at him, as she punched his order into the till.

"You here with anyone special?" she asked, watching the dreamy look he had in his eye.

"Erm, just a really good friend," he said. "Really good," he repeated, sighing slightly.

"Ah, I understand," she replied with a wink. "In that case, I'll throw in the sugar cookie free. Just don't tell my boss."

"Thank you, that's awfully kind!" Blaine returned her grin as he handed over the money and she handed over the sugar cookie and wafers.

"No worries. I'm sure your great friend will come around soon," she assured him.

"It's a little complicated," Blaine explained. She gave him an understanding nod and went off to make his coffee. He thumbed with his phone as he waited, replying to a few texts that the Warblers had sent him. They were mainly Wes demanding that he called as soon as he was available because, as Wes had put so eloquently: 'I miss my gay bff and I need some girl advice so I figured you could do some girl translating for me. Nick and Jeff are too busy being adorable to help!'

"Medium grip and a grande non-fat mocha?" a voice declared. Blaine looked up to find the girl who'd served him holding out his coffees. He quickly pocketed his phone and took them from her, flashing a grateful smile.

"Thanks," he said.

She simply returned a "good luck," before going on to serve the next customer. Blaine went to walk back to Kurt, attempting not to drop the coffees as he juggled them with the sugar cookie and wafers. However, he stopped in his tracks when he found another person standing over their table, towering over Kurt with their hand clutching at Kurt's shoulder. He straight away recognised the boy, the hair, the height, the menacing grin. Alex.

"Hey!" he yelled, rushing over to where they stood. He quickly dropped the drinks and food onto the table and moved to stand between Kurt and Alex, effectively breaking Alex's contact with Kurt. "What are you doing?"

"God, Anderson, I'm talking to my boyfriend, okay?" Alex huffed, rolling his eyes as if Blaine was being ridiculous.

"He's not your boyfriend anymore," Blaine stated. "Remember?"

"I've already told him that I forgive him and still love him. Yeah, he said some things he didn't mean but we're going to get through this," Alex declared.

"You forgive him? I think you need to check your facts because last time I checked it was he who needed to forgive you. You're the one who treated him badly, you're the only who was a terrible boyfriend and you're the one who needs to leave right now," Blaine grunted angrily.

"What's got your knickers in a twist? You don't care about Kurt. Of course you don't, no one does; only me. Unless…" he eyed Blaine thoughtfully. "Are you sleeping with him?"

"What?" Blaine barked.

"Are you sleeping with him? The only reason you'd actually care about Kurt is because you're his fuck buddy or something like thatand you don't want to lose your regular screw. I can't believe you slept with my boyfriend, Anderson," Alex growled.

"I didn't sleep with Kurt!" Blaine argued, trying not to raise his voice too much. "Kurt is my best friend and I won't have you fucking up his life now that he's actually starting to become happy. So please leave or I will be forced to complain to a member of staff about you."

"Kurt doesn't want me to leave, right, Kurt?" Alex objected, looking over at Kurt. Kurt didn't make eye contact with him; he simply looked at Blaine before ducking his head.

"I can't believe you, Kurt. I'm giving you an opportunity to get back together and you're wasting it for this loser? You know I'm good for you, Kurt. You know that I love you," Alex insisted. Kurt failed to even look up, instead squeezing his eyes shut tight as he stared at the floor. "Fine," continued Alex. "If that's the way you want it, I'll go. But I warn you, Kurt, I'm never coming back. You know that I'm the only one who will ever love you." When Kurt once again failed to react, Alex just scoffed at him. "Pathetic," he spat, before sauntering out of the coffee shop.

Blaine watched as he left, making sure he was gone before kneeling down on the floor next to Kurt. "God, Kurt, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" he asked, resting a hand on Kurt's shoulder. Kurt flinched at the touch, his eyes opening to look at Blaine and revealing the tears that threatened to spill down his cheeks. When Kurt failed to reply, Blaine simply picked up the coffee and whispered, "Come on, let's get out of here."

Kurt nodded, snatching up his shopping bags, and stepping up to Blaine's side to walk with him to the car. They didn't speak until they'd reached Blaine's house. Their coffee cups were empty and abandoned in the hall and they went straight up to Blaine's room. As soon as Kurt sat on the bed and the door was closed, Kurt threw his hands over his eyes and sobbed.

"Oh, Kurt," Blaine muttered, sitting beside his friend and wrapping his arms around him gently. Kurt turned his head and Blaine felt warm tears on his neck. He tried his best to whisper soothing words into Kurt's ears, but nothing seemed to help. He wasn't sure how long Kurt cried before he fell to sleep, but soon his red rimmed eyes dried and his breathing evened out. He eyes stayed shut as he hung limply onto Blaine.

Blaine held him for a little longer, but when he noticed the time, peeled Kurt off him and settled him against the pillows instead. He then took Kurt's phone from his pocket carefully, trying his hardest not to jolt him. He found Kurt's father's number and dialled.

"Hey, Kurt," answered the rough voice of Burt Hummel.

"Actually, it's Blaine," Blaine corrected him.

"Oh, Blaine. Is everything alright?" Burt asked him.

"I'm not really sure," admitted Blaine. "When Kurt and I went to the mall today we had a run in with Alex. I managed to get him to leave, but he still said some stuff and Kurt literally hasn't spoken to me ever since it happened. We left and came back to mine and he cried until he fell asleep. I didn't want to wake him and knew you'd get worried if he didn't return home on time."

"Oh God, thank you, Blaine. You don't know how glad I am that you were there for him. Did you need me to come and get him?" Burt questioned.

"He can stay here for the night, if that's okay with you. I mean, he's pretty upset and I'd hate to wake him. I'll do my best to make sure he's okay," Blaine assured him.

"I'm sure you would. That's completely fine with me. You're good for him; you're a good kid," said Burt.

"Thank you," Blaine replied. "He's my best friend. I'm going to try my best to make him happy."

"Thanks," Burt said. "I honestly don't know where he'd be without you, Blaine. I dread to think in fact." Both Blaine and Burt tried to rid of the ideas that came to mind. "Just have him call me when he's on his way home tomorrow, okay?"

"I will. Say hi to Carole for me?" said Blaine.

"Sure I will," Burt confirmed. "See ya soon, kiddo."

"Bye," Blaine returned, before hanging up. He looked over at Kurt for a minute; he looked peaceful, the only signs of his distress being his eyes which were still tinted red.

He was going to do anything in his power to make sure that Kurt never had to go through this again.

* * *

Blaine wasn't sure what to do whilst Kurt slept. He sat on the edge of the bed and watched him for a while, but he started to feel creepy and instead decided to call Wes back.

"Finally, I've been waiting for your call all day!" Wes answered cheerily.

"Sorry, I've been a bit busy," Blaine whispered back.

"Why are you whispering?" asked Wes. "It's like 9 PM, I doubt you'd be in the library or something like that."

"No, actually, Kurt's asleep and I don't want to wake him, but I don't want him to wake up and find himself alone," Blaine explained.

"What's going on over there, Mr Anderson? You'd better not have made any advance without telling me first," Wes complained.

"No, nothing like that. Alex ran into us at the mall today and Kurt's really upset about it. He hasn't spoken to me since it happened, he just kind of cried into my neck until he fell asleep," Blaine reassured him.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is he alright? Well, I guess he's not alright, but is he going to be alright? Because I know you have some strange power of making him feel better and you watch musicals and shit, but he was super happy and now he's that upset?" the Warbler babbled.

"I hope he's going to be alright. I'm going to try my best to make everything alright again," Blaine declared.

"You're a good friend to him, Blaine. Kurt's cool and I'm glad he has you there for him," Wes commented. "I'd ask you for your girl translations, but I take it right now you have a lot on your mind so I'll leave it for now. Make sure Kurt's okay."

"I will. Thanks, Wes."

"It's no problem. Speak to you soon, bro," Wes said.

"Speak to you soon."

* * *

Blaine wasn't sure what time he fell asleep. He got into his pyjamas and crawled into the other side of the bed. He was sure Kurt wouldn't mind. Every time Kurt slept over they shared the bed, although normally they both fell asleep together whilst watching a musical or something. He knew Kurt would hate sleeping all night in his clothes, but didn't dare wake him. Instead, he laid out some pyjamas next to Kurt's side of the bed in case he woke up and wanted to change. Blaine lay in the dark for a while, listening to the sounds of Kurt's even, deep breaths, and soon he felt his eyes drooping and fell asleep.

He didn't stay asleep for much longer though. He woke up to find Kurt thrashing against the sheets, a steady chant of "no, no, no" escaping his lips. He sat up, switched on the lamp and looked over at his friend. Kurt's face was contorted with what looked liked fear, his eyes still squeezed shut. His legs and arms thrashed, barely missing Blaine. Blaine quickly shook Kurt, trying to avoid being hit, until Kurt's eyes flew open. His breathing was heavy and he managed to whisper "Blaine" before falling against Blaine and burying his face into his neck.

"Shh, it's okay, Kurt. It was just a dream," Blaine reassured him soothingly.

"Oh, God, it was horrible, Blaine. He was so angry. So, so angry. Saying all these things, hitting me, threatening to k-." Kurt cut himself off with a choked sob. "He threatened to kill you. And me. I was so scared."

"Shh, Kurt. It's not real. He's not going to hurt you; I won't let him," Blaine whispered, rubbing Kurt's back. Kurt blinked up at him and Blaine tried to smile to calm him down, but his smile wavered. He couldn't smile when Kurt was so upset. He would do anything to see Kurt smile again.


	15. Chapter 15

When Blaine woke up on Sunday morning, Kurt still had his arms wrapped around his waist, little puffs of breath blowing on Blaine's neck in a heavy, even flow of air. Blaine took a moment to appreciate the feeling of waking up with Kurt in his arms, immediately feeling guilty when he thought about how upset Kurt has been the previous night.

He stayed for a few more seconds, the temptation to just lay there all day with Kurt almost too strong to resist, but he carefully untangled himself from Kurt's grasp, trying his best not to wake the sleeping boy. He left the room, taking one last glance at Kurt, before heading downstairs to the kitchen.

He found his parents sat at the breakfast bar in the kitchen sipping tea, and greeted them as he turned on the coffee machine and slotted some bread into the toaster.

"Morning, sweetie," said Linda. "Is everything alright? I heard you and Kurt come in last night, but you didn't come and say goodnight."

Blaine explained what had happened the previous day, his parents nodding along as they listened. "Kurt was really upset. I didn't think you'd mind him staying over, I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Blaine finished.

"Oh no, Blaine, I don't mind Kurt staying over at all. In fact, he's welcome anytime. Is he alright?" Linda asked. Blaine couldn't help but be grateful about his mother's acceptance and worry for Kurt.

"Yeah, he's better now. He had a nightmare last night, but I managed to calm him down and he slept the entire night as far as I'm aware. I thought I'd take him some breakfast and see if he wants to talk," Blaine answered.

"Okay, honey. You're a great friend to Kurt. We're proud of you, you know?" Linda grinned, looking to her husband, who smiled and nodded at their son in agreement. Blaine looked up from where he'd started arranging his and Kurt's breakfasts on a tray with a watery smile. He paused his actions to hug his parents.

"Thanks," he whispered between them. "You guys are the best parents I could ever ask for."

"And you are the best child we could have asked for," Andrew responded, his hand finding Linda's on Blaine's back. They stayed in this embrace for a few seconds longer, each member of the family enjoying the comfort and safety, before Blaine broke away.

"I'd best go take this up to Kurt before his coffee goes cold," he excused. "Did you want me to help with dinner later?"

"That's alright, Blaine, we've got it sorted. See if Kurt's staying for dinner. And if you need us then don't hesitate to call down," Linda said.

"Thanks, guys," Blaine replied, and took the tray from the counter, carefully carrying it as not to spill the coffee, and taking it slowly up the stairs. When he reached his bedroom, Kurt was still sound asleep, his face buried into one of Blaine's pillows. Blaine set down the tray on his desk and moved to sit on the bed and gently wake Kurt.

"Kurt," he murmured quietly, not wanting to scare the boy. "Kurt, wake up." Kurt stirred, mumbling nonsense as he rolled over and rubbed at his eyes.

"Blaine?" he groaned, sleepily, his eyes easing open.

"Morning, Kurt. I thought you'd want some coffee and breakfast as we didn't eat properly last night," Blaine explained. Kurt moved to sit up whilst Blaine went and retrieved Kurt's coffee. Once Kurt was upright, he pushed the mug into Kurt's hands and the boy smiled gratefully at him.

"Thank you, Blaine. I don't know what I'd do without you," he said, his voice still rough from sleep.

"It's no problem; I just want you to feel better," Blaine replied.

"I'm sorry about last night," Kurt remarked. "I bet you're sick of having to look after me."

"No, don't say that! I'm just doing what friends do," Blaine argued. "You're not a burden to me, Kurt. I would do anything to make you happy again."

"I was happy," Kurt admitted. "You made me happy and made me feel safe and then he had to go and ruin it." Kurt took a gulp of his coffee, staring intensely at the bed sheets in front of his crossed legs.

"We'll make you feel happy and safe again, Kurt. I don't know how long it will take, but I'm not going to give up until you feel happy and safe," Blaine insisted.

"I'm sorry that I didn't speak to you last night. And that I broke down. And that I woke you up in the middle of the night," Kurt apologised.

"Don't be sorry. It's nothing to worry about. Anyway, you never told me you were having nightmares," Blaine pointed out.

"I've never had them here, not when I feel so safe. I was having them nearly every night at home when everything first happened. I didn't want to worry you with them. I talked to my therapist about them though, and they've gotten much less frequent since. In fact, I've not had one for at least a week," Kurt explained.

"You don't have to avoid telling me things, Kurt. If something's wrong then you should tell me, but I'm glad you're talking about it with your therapist," said Blaine, standing and pulling the tray onto the bed to offer Kurt some toast. Kurt took it gratefully, nibbling on the edge and leaning over the tray in order to catch the crumbs he was dropping.

"I honestly don't know what I did to deserve you," Kurt stated, between bites.

"I could say the same," replied Blaine.

"You have lots of friends, Blaine. You have Wes and the Warblers and Rachel and New Directions. They're much better for you; they're not broken," Kurt argued.

"Kurt, I may have friends, but I don't have friends like you. The only two friends who I could tell absolutely anything to are you and Wes, and even though Wes is one of the greatest friends I've ever had, I don't think he understands me in the same way you do. We've both had our fair share of crap in our lives, we've both had to suffer things out of our control and we've both had people in our lives that have hurt us. I know Wes understands that, but he's never had to go through it. As much as I'd love if neither of us had had to go through that, I think it's what helps you understand me, and what helps me understand you. You're my best friend, Kurt. I know you may think that I'm helping you, but you're helping me too," Blaine assured.

Kurt just stared for a moment, before placing his drink and plate on the bedside table and throwing his arms around Blaine. He pressed his face into Blaine's neck, breathing the scent deeply as Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt's waist. "Thank you," he whispered. "Thank you for being there for me, thank you for saving me."

"Thank you for saving me," Blaine murmured back. Kurt took one last deep breath and untangled his arms from around Blaine's neck, pulling back to smile at Blaine, before his face turned panicked.

"Oh crap! I didn't call my dad!" Kurt exclaimed, patting at his pockets to find his phone.

"Woah, calm it, Kurt," Blaine said. "I called him last night when you fell asleep. He said to tell you to call him when you're on your way home." Blaine took Kurt's phone from the bedside table behind him and handed it over.

"Oh thanks! I'd best call him now so he doesn't get too worried," Kurt replied, taking the phone and unlocking it to find his dad's number. Blaine watched as Kurt talked to his father, but his mind was otherwise occupied with ways which he could keep that smile on Kurt's face.

* * *

Since Kurt had returned home on Sunday, Burt had turned back to protective dad mode. He didn't directly address what he'd been told had happened on Saturday, but he hovered at every opportunity; he helped Kurt with dinner, even though Kurt insisted that he was just getting in the way, he asked where Kurt was going every time he got up to use the bathroom or get a drink, he questioned Kurt on his mood every half hour. As much as Kurt was grateful that his dad cared so much, Kurt hated him hovering.

The final straw was when Kurt went up to his room to finish his homework, and his dad sent Finn up to sit with him, with the poor excuse that Finn wanted to help him with homework.

"You don't even do French," Kurt sighed.

"I, erm, I thought it looked, erm, interesting," Finn stammered.

"Dad sent you up, didn't he," Kurt accused. Finn went to deny it, but Kurt gave him a pointed look and he reluctantly nodded his head. Kurt stood up and left his room, heading in the direction of the living room. His father and Carole looked up when he entered.

"You okay, Kurt?" his dad asked.

"Dad, please, stop," Kurt begged.

"What?" Burt said.

"The hovering, and the asking if I'm okay, and sending Finn up to spy on me. I get that you're worried and I know that you want to help, but you're just making me feel claustrophobic. I'm okay. Sure, I had a bit of a break down yesterday and I was really upset, but it was a shock and it caught me off guard. Sure, I've taken a few steps back from where I'd gotten, but I'll get back there with help from Blaine and therapy and you, but that doesn't mean that I need you making sure I'm okay every two seconds. I'm glad you're here for me, I'm glad I have your support and I don't know where I'd be without you, but please give me some space," Kurt pleaded.

Burt stared at his son for a few seconds, Carole giving his hand a squeeze to encourage him. "I'm really sorry, Kurt," he apologised. "I didn't mean to hover so much. I just worry about you and I hate that I can't help you."

"You do help me, dad; just by being there for me. You don't have to worry about me all of the time. Just be there for me, that's all you have to do," Kurt replied.

Burt looked over to Carole, who gave him a slight nod. "Finn!" he yelled towards the open doorway. "Wanna get in here?" Finn came hurrying down the stairs and into the living room and Burt gestured for him and Kurt to sit on the coach in front of them.

"We were going to tell you guys this tomorrow, but after everything that happened, I didn't want to put too much pressure onto Kurt and I didn't want to risk upsetting you anymore, but you both deserve to know because it's a big part of our lives and-" Burt rambled before Carole cut him off.

"Oh, for goodness sake, what Burt is trying to say is that last night he proposed!" Carole squealed. Sure enough, when she held up her left hand, a ring was glistening on her ring finger. Kurt wasn't sure how he hadn't noticed it before.

Burt was still staring at Kurt, waiting for his reaction, which he got when Kurt stood up and let out a shriek of excitement, immediately pulling up his dad and Carole and throwing his arms around them, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Oh my God, this is amazing! We have so much to do! Find Carole the perfect dress, get you fitted for a suit, book the venue and pick a theme. Do you think anywhere rents doves? This is going to be the best wedding ever!" Kurt babbled, his smile growing as he spoke.

"So, you're okay with this?" asked Burt, his smile reflecting his son's.

"Okay with it? Of course I'm okay with it! I've been waiting for you to get the courage to ask for months! You really thought I wouldn't be okay with this?" said Kurt.

"I just wasn't sure how you thought about me getting remarried," Burt replied.

"What about you, Finn? Are you okay with this?" asked Carole.

Finn smiled at his mother, and then at Burt and Kurt. "Yeah, I'm okay with it. I'm happy for you mom," Finn said. Carole's eyes began to tear up and she rushed to wrap her arms around her son.

"So, I'm not exactly one for tradition, so I was wondering if you'd both be my best men," said Burt, looking between Kurt and Finn. The two boys looked at each other before looking back to Burt and throwing their arms around him, with replies of "Of course," and "I'd be happy to."

"Thanks, boys. And I know that you're going to want to help plan and stuff, Kurt, but don't put too much pressure on yourself," Burt said.

"I won't, dad. Now, I need to go and call Blaine! He's going to be so excited!" Kurt said, rushing out of the room and pulling his phone out.

Burt, Carole and Finn all looked between each other. Carole was the first to speak, piping up with, "Do you think Kurt's going to ask Blaine to be his date to the wedding?"

Burt chuckled and answered, "I'm not sure, but I know that, if he does, it will be good for him."


	16. Chapter 16

Burt and Carole's engagement couldn't have come at a better time. Kurt was in his element helping to plan and the excitement on his face every time he found a venue that he thought would be perfect, or even a colour table cloth that would match the napkins he'd bought was overwhelming. Blaine spent a lot of time with Kurt, helping him prepare. They decided that the best and cheapest option for entertainment would be to have the New Directions sing. Kurt even asked them himself, not worrying about being shy or nervous around them.

Kurt invited Blaine's friends too, since he felt that they had helped those times he was upset, such as the first sleep over they'd had and Blaine's birthday, and one way to repay them was via free food and a good party. They all accepted, already arranging outfits and who their plus one would be. The guys with girlfriends and Nick and Jeff were sorted, but those without found dates from Crawford Country Day, Dalton's sister school.

This was one thing that worried Kurt. Dates. Despite Rachel and Finn's break up, they were flirting a lot more and Finn had asked Rachel to be his date. Sam was going with Quinn, Tina with Mike, Brittany with Artie, Santana with Puck. Even Mercedes had asked Anthony Rashad, the cute boy she'd had her eye on from the football team. And Kurt didn't have a date. He couldn't have a date. He and Alex weren't together any more. Not that if he were with Alex, Kurt would want him to be his date. He wouldn't be able to keep it together in front of his parents. However much he was glad that he didn't have Alex, he also felt a little down that everyone but him had a date. He'd have to sit alone when everyone else was dancing or find one of his elderly family members who was too old to dance themselves to sit with.

Well, he thought that until he realised something. Blaine didn't have a date either. That meant that Kurt wouldn't have to sit alone. On the other hand, Blaine might find a date of his own to bring as his plus one. Kurt tried not to be disappointed at the thought. He had no claim over Blaine and could therefore not choose who his date was to the wedding.

He still couldn't help but question it one day when Blaine came to his. They were sat on Kurt's bed, Kurt scrolling through dresses online. Blaine was being as helpful as possible, pointing out dresses that he thought was suit Carole every so often and waiting for Kurt's approval.

"Are you taking anyone to the wedding?" Kurt asked, not being able to wait any longer.

"Erm, yeah, my parents and I think Wes and his girlfriend will be coming to mine so I'll take them too," Blaine answered.

"No, that's not what I meant. I meant, are you bringing a date? A plus one?" he repeated, trying to clarify.

"Oh. I see. No, no I'm not. Why - erm - why do you ask?" asked Blaine.

"I was just wondering because everyone else has dates," Kurt replied.

"Oh," Blaine breathed. Kurt went back to working in silence, scrolling through the page, but the conversation didn't leave his mind.

"Blaine?"

"Yes, Kurt?"

"You and I are really good friends, right?" he questioned.

"Of course we are, Kurt," Blaine replied.

"Well, we can go together then, right? Like come as my date, but my best friend date?" said Kurt.

"Yeah, of course we can," Blaine said. "I don't see that being a problem."

Blaine smiled at Kurt, who grinned in return. "We'd best get searching then!" Kurt exclaimed.

"Searching?" questioned Blaine.

"Yes. For your suit. If you're going to be my date then you're going to need to look absolutely stunning. Well, not too stunning. I don't want you to out-do me at my own father's wedding," Kurt explained, his grin not fading.

* * *

The wedding day finally came and Kurt was stressing just a little. He was sure everything would be fine, but something was bound to go wrong. He helped Carole with her dress and makeup and hair. He then rushed to help his dad tie his tie and straighten his suit. He helped Finn smarten up and then completed his own appearance, styling his hair perfectly and tying his tie neatly at his neck. He greeted guests at the venue, meeting Finn's grandparents and catching up with a couple of older relatives who he hadn't seen in a while. Blaine parents arrived and greeted Kurt kindly, explaining that Blaine was bringing their present from the car and locking up. Kurt complimented Linda's dress and Andrews suit and they chatted for a while, before Blaine entered.

Blaine looked gorgeous. Kurt couldn't take his eyes off the way the suit - a rather expensive suit that Blaine had insisting on buying once Kurt had seen it without checking the price tag - fit him perfectly, showing his broad shoulders and small waist. His hair was styled with gel, slicking it back and making him look like something out of the musicals they watched together. This was all topped off by Kurt's favourite thing, Blaine's huge grin which made his golden eyes sparkle and his cheeks flush.

He approached Kurt and wrapped his arms around Kurt's shoulders in greeting.

"You look amazing," Blaine whispered to him.

"I could say the same for you, Mr Anderson. You look like a very dapper gentlemen," Kurt replied with a chuckle.

"Well, I couldn't let you down and make everyone think your date was a slob or not good enough or something," Blaine explained, breaking their embrace but not their contact as he hooked an arm through Kurt's.

The ceremony was amazing, beautiful in fact. Blaine had to pass Kurt a tissue half way through the vows, and give Kurt's hand a squeeze when Burt and Carole were pronounced man and wife. The ceremony faded into sitting down for dinner and soon it was time for Kurt and Finn to make their speeches.

Kurt was nervous when he stood up, but with an encouraging smile from both his dad and Blaine, he tapped his fork against his glass, calling everyone's attention.

"Hi, everyone," he began. "Erm, first, I'd like to thank you all for coming to my dad and Carole's wedding. I did the guest list, so if you passed my standards, you should feel honoured to be here. I know that, as one of my dad's best men, I'm supposed to tell you embarrassing stories or something about my dad, but I think we have different ideas of embarrassing. I mean, I count the time my dad decided it was okay to wear quadruple denim - no, I didn't know it was possible either." He earned a few chuckles from the guests for that one. "So instead, I'm going to let Finn do that one, and I'm going to do the boring part." Kurt took a deep breath, before continuing. "As most of you probably know, me and my dad lost my mom a while back, when I was 8. It had a huge affect on us. It didn't help that my dad can't cook to save his life. But as I grew up, I found it hard. I wasn't exactly a normal child. I preferred tea parties over football, bow ties over sneakers, singing over playing in the dirt. I also realised I liked boys instead of girls. I was bullied a lot through middle school and high school and I honestly don't think I'd have coped if I didn't have that one person in my life. My dad. He was the one who was always there for me; always accepted me. Even though I'm sure he wanted me to love football and sports, he still came to my dance rehearsal, sat through my tea parties, listened to me sing. He was kind of my slice of happiness, the sunshine of my life.

"I remember my dad said something to me a while back, along the lines of 'when you're mom died, we weren't living, we were surviving' and it's true. It took a while to get used to things. But when dad met Carole, I knew it was for the best. Carole's amazing and she everything my dad deserves. I remember when my dad had his heart attack, I thought I was going to be alone. I couldn't imagine life without him. But Carole was there for me the entire time. And then when dad came out of hospital she helped me look after him, helped me convince him to eat right and stay healthy. And I'm so grateful for that.

"Recently, I've been through a lot. I've been hurt and I've been broken, and I've had a lot of help from my best friend. But I honestly don't think I would have survived this without my dad and Carole's love and support. If anyone deserves eternal happiness, it's you guys. So, I'm glad you're all here with me today to celebrate the coming together of two wonderful people. Thank you and I hope you enjoy the rest of the night."

Once Kurt had finished, he sat down, glancing nervously at Blaine. Blaine's expression was almost unreadable, had it not been for the tears welling in his eyes, and this expression was mirrored by his father and Carole. Blaine took Kurt's hand and squeezed it, letting him know that he did well.

* * *

Blaine found Kurt sat alone later. He'd just done some catching up with Wes whilst Kurt was talking to his dad, but when he looked over to Burt he found Kurt to be nowhere in sight. He looked around each table until he found Kurt sat at a table with a glass of sparkling cider as he watched the couples on the dance floor. Blaine took a seat next to him, smiling kindly.

"You did a fantastic job of this wedding, you know?" he complimented.

Kurt let out a small chuckle. "Well, I couldn't let my dad and Carole arrange it. Lord knows what that would have looked like!"

Blaine returned the chuckle and followed Kurt's eye line to see that he was still watching the people dancing. "I don't suppose you want to dance, do you?" asked Blaine.

"It's a slow song," Kurt pointed out.

"If you can't slow dance with your best friend then who can you slow dance with?" Blaine argued. Kurt stared at Blaine for moment, as if he couldn't tell whether he was real or serious. Finally he nodded and Blaine held out his hand from him and lead him to the dance floor.

They immediately found a comfortable position, Blaine's hands on Kurt's hips and Kurt's on Blaine's shoulders.

"Thank you," Kurt whispered.

"You don't need to thank me," Blaine replied. "I think it's part of my duties as a date to dance with you."

"Not just for this," Kurt clarified. "For everything you've done for me."

"You don't need to thank me for that either," Blaine said.

Kurt smiled as they continued to dance. Blaine tried to ignore how close Kurt was, their bodies pressed tightly together and Kurt's breath dusting over his cheek. Their faces were literally inches apart. Blaine met Kurt's eye and they blinked at one another. For a second, Blaine was sure Kurt was getting closer, but then he stopped and whispered, "I should go and find Mercedes."

Disappointed, Blaine nodded and unwrapped his arms from Kurt's waist, watching as he walked away. The one thing Blaine was now certain of, was that he was falling so hard for his best friend.


	17. Chapter 17

"Mercedes can I borrow you?"

Mercedes, who had been dancing with Anthony, paused and turned out of his arms to find Kurt waiting for a reply, bouncing from one foot to another and worrying his bottom lip between his teeth.

"Erm, sure. Anthony, why don't you go get us some drinks?" Mercedes suggested. Anthony agreed, with a friendly nod at both Kurt and Mercedes, before heading off in the direction of the bar. "What's up, Kurt?"

"I know that, erm, I know that I haven't exactly been open with you in a while and I've kept things from you, even though we're supposed to be really good friends, but I kind of need some advice and I know that you'll know how to handle this. You won't hate me for asking, will you?" Kurt babbled.

"Kurt, I could never hate you. I don't mind that you haven't been open for a while, I understand that you're uncomfortable opening up, but just know that I'm here whenever you need to talk," Mercedes assured him. Kurt smiled slightly, but still looked nervous. "If you're really uncomfortable then you could go and talk to Blaine."

"I can't talk to Blaine," Kurt stated.

"Why not?" asked Mercedes.

"Because it involves him," Kurt clarified.

"Ah, right. Spill!"

"So, he came as my date. My best friend date kind of date, I think," Kurt began.

"Uh huh."

"And we slow danced."

"Yeah."

"And we were really close."

"Mhmm."

"And I really wanted to kiss him."

"Oh…"

"But I can't."

"Why?"

Kurt didn't respond for a moment, as if thinking about the actual answer to that question.

"Because of Alex."

"Kurt, honey, you're not with Alex anymore. He can't hurt you anymore," Mercedes argued.

"No, it's not that. It's just that, I'm so broken. I still have nightmares and I still cry myself to sleep sometimes and I'm still scared, but Blaine has made everything okay. And I'm kind of scared that he's going to think that I'm just crushing on him because I see him as a hero or something and I'm also kind of scared that I'm not good enough for him and that I'm just a charity case to him and I'm also kind of scared that he won't like me and that he'll be really awkward with me and I won't be able to talk to him like I do now and that I'll be alone," Kurt explained, taking a gasp of breath at the end of the long speech.

"Okay, first of all, Kurt, it's understandable that you're still the way you are. This takes time to get over. You're doing so well and I know that you'll get over it one day, even if that day isn't soon. But you know Blaine. Blaine will listen to you and understand you. I'm sure he would understand if you explained that this isn't about him being your hero or whatever. He most certainly does not see you as a charity case; he never has done and he never will. He cares about you and you know that. You know that he would never see you as not being good enough. And as for the last one, that's just a risk you've got to take. If you ask me, I'm 99.9% sure he's into you, if the way he looks at you and talks about you is anything to go on, but even if he wasn't, he would never stop being your best friend or leave you alone. He would never abandon you and, if I know you and Blaine, I know that things wouldn't be awkward," Mercedes replied.

"And what about Alex?" asked Kurt.

"Alex is in the past now, Kurt. I think you still need some more time to get over him, but at the end of the day, he's an ex and he can't affect your relationship with Blaine. Alex is in the past, but Blaine is in the present and the future. One day, you're going to be completely over him. You might never forget him, but you won't hurt the way you do now. One day you're going to move on with your life and the only way you're going to get to that point is by letting in people to love and to love you," Mercedes answered.

Kurt watched her, his eyes glossed over slightly. "You always say such smart things," he chuckled.

Mercedes giggled. "I just try my best. I wouldn't take it too seriously - I mean look at the amount of relationships I've been in – but I would do anything for you and I am prepared to do anything to make you smile."

Kurt smiled at her, as if to grant her wish and she wrapped her arms tightly around him.

"Now, do I get a dance with you before you're dragged off by your knight in an expensive tux?" Mercedes joked.

"Anything for you, my dear. Though I don't think I should keep you for too long; Anthony's starting to look a bit green eyed," Kurt jested back.

"Oh please. He knows you're gayer than the fourth of July," Mercedes said.

"Yeah, well, he seems pretty jealous. He must be into you," Kurt replied. "Have you kissed him yet? Is he your boyfriend?"

"Oh, Kurt Hummel, am I the kind of girl to kiss and tell?" Mercedes giggled, swaying in time with Kurt.

"Yes, you are now. Come on, tell!" Kurt urged.

"Fine, if you really want to know. He kissed me earlier, when he came to pick me up for the wedding. He told me I looked beautiful and gave me a flower and kissed my hand. It was super sweet. And then he kissed me and he told me he was really glad that I asked him to be my date," Mercedes told him. "As for boyfriend, we've not really talked about labels, but I know that I really want him to be my boyfriend."

"I'm so happy for you," Kurt whispered against her ear, holding her slightly tighter.

"I'm so happy for you," she repeated. "I've missed this; I've missed us. I know you might not be ready for it yet, but do you think Blaine would mind if I dragged you away for some shopping and maybe a sleepover. I've missed gossiping with you. Rachel Berry sucks at being you. All she ever talks about is herself and moans about Finn and asks if they should get back together. Not to mention how horrific shopping with her is. I swear we went into too many children's shops and there are only so many animal sweaters I can handle in my life."

Kurt chuckled as Mercedes ranted, holding back the tears that threatened to spill. "Yeah, I've missed us too. I'm sorry you had to go through all of that."

"I just missed you an awful lot," Mercedes whispered as the song came to an end.

"I missed you too, boo," Kurt replied. The song ended and Anthony came back clutching drinks and waiting patiently for Kurt to leave so he could continue to dance with Mercedes, although he was too polite to actually ask. Kurt got the message, and with another hug and a promise to arrange a sleepover as soon as possible, Kurt hurried off to find Blaine.

* * *

When he found Blaine, he was alone, just as Kurt had been when Blaine found him. He was sat at an empty table, sipping a glass of coke and staring straight ahead.

"Blaine!" Kurt exclaimed when he got close enough for Blaine to hear him.

Blaine nearly jumped out of his seat at the sound of Kurt's voice, but managed not to spill his drink and looked up to meet his friend's gaze. "K-Kurt, hi," he stammered. "Find Mercedes okay?"

"Yeah, but her date wanted her back so I guess I had to give her up eventually in order to not neglect mine," Kurt replied with a grin. Blaine smiled back, almost nervously.

"It's okay. It's your dad's wedding so you're allowed to do what you want. Plus, I'm really glad that you're getting to become close with Mercedes again. I know she makes you happy," Blaine said.

_'Not as happy as you make me,'_ Kurt thought, but he didn't say it, thinking it might be a bit too forward. Instead he just said, "Would you like to go outside for a few minutes? It's getting a little stuffy in here."

"Sure," Blaine answered, before downing the last of his drink and standing to follow Kurt. Kurt lead them to the back door and opened it, thankful when he didn't find some couple making out or more in the space behind the building. They were silent for a moment, simply allowing the cool air to refresh their skin.

"Thanks for inviting me to come with you," Blaine said, finally breaking the silence.

"Thank you for coming," Kurt replied. "And for holding my hand and dancing with me." When Kurt said it like that, he realised it sounded a lot more couple-y than he'd thought.

"That's what best friends do for each other, right?" Blaine said. The music could still be heard through the thin doors, the slow melodies continuing to play as the night drew on and people grew tired of the upbeat dance songs. "Would you like to dance again?"

"Pardon?" Kurt asked, not quite sure he'd heard correctly.

"Well, you rushed off last time and it was really hot in there. Plus, it's nicer out here; not so many people gawking," Blaine clarified.

"I, erm, yeah, okay," Kurt muttered.

This time, Kurt took the lead, placing one hand on Blaine's hip and entwining the fingers on his other with Blaine. Blaine's hand rested gently on his shoulder and they moved together slowly, not really caring that they weren't particularly dancing very well. The didn't speak again for a while, the silence comfortable, and Kurt was sure if he spoke, it would come out as merely a squeak.

"Dancing is my favourite," Blaine admitted. "I love singing, I really do, but I think I love dancing more. It's a way to have fun, to let yourself just get lost in music, to not care about what anyone thinks, to express feelings or to connect with someone. I know most people probably think that's stupid, but it's just the way I see it."

"I don't think that's stupid. In fact, I know exactly what you mean. Although I tend to refrain from embarrassing myself at parties such as this by busting my moves, I like the idea of using dancing to express yourself. I remember, when I was really little, my mom and me would dance all the time. Usually to my The Little Mermaid soundtrack, but I remember it always made us both happy," Kurt said. "I remember I asked her once about why princes and princesses always dance in movies and she said something about how it helps them realise how much they love each other. She told me, one day, I would be the prince, dancing with someone I really care about." Blaine ducked his head, avoiding Kurt's eyes. "And I guess I am dancing with someone I really care about," Kurt continued. _'Of course he cares about you; you're his best friend,'_ Blaine reminded himself in his head.

"I really care about you too," Blaine whispered.

"Blaine, I need to talk to you about something," Kurt mumbled. Blaine looked up again, meeting Kurt's eye as they continued to sway side to side. He raised an eyebrow and waited for Kurt to continue. "It's just that... erm... what I really want to say is ... I need to know... I want..." Kurt was struggling with his words and Blaine could see the confusion and annoyance in his expression.

"Kurt, hey, Kurt," Blaine said, moving his head slightly so that his face was directly in front of Kurt's their noses barely an inch apart and their eyes meeting. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

And with that, Kurt ignored all of the worries he'd had previously and did what he'd been wanting to do all night.


	18. Chapter 18

Two seconds. For just two seconds everything felt right; everything felt good. Kurt's heart seemed healed again. Blaine soft lips were against his and all that was wrong before seemed right again. It took two seconds for his brain to function properly and for him to pull back.

Blaine looked just as shocked as he was and Kurt suddenly felt extremely self conscious; he worried he'd made a mistake.

"I'm so sorry!" he apologised. "I can't believe I just did that. I just... I..." Kurt couldn't continue. He put a hand over his mouth and took a deep breath, willing tears to go away. "I'm sorry, I'll just go..."

"Don't go," Blaine spoke up. Kurt met his gaze and saw Blaine's soft expression. "Please don't go. Please talk to me."

"I'm really sorry I just did that, I really shouldn't have. I mean you're my best friend and you've done so much for me, but it was a spur of the moment thing and I-"

"Kurt," Blaine cut him off. "Please stop apologising; I honestly don't mind. I, erm, I've been wanting to kiss you for a while." Blaine couldn't help the blush that stained his cheeks as he admitted this.

"You have?" gasped Kurt, blinking at Blaine.

"Yeah, I just didn't think you wanted to and after all you've been through I didn't want to tell you and for you to get more upset," Blaine admitted. "And I assumed you weren't ready for anything after what happened with you-know-who."

"I assumed I wasn't either. It was worrying me so much. And earlier I had a panic moment because we were so close and I really wanted to kiss you, so I went and talked to Mercedes and she said what I really needed to hear. Alex is in the past. That's all he's going to be; my past. I shouldn't let him affect my future. One day, the hurting will stop and that might not be today, but I shouldn't let that stop me from being happy with someone else. The hurting might still be there, but when I'm with you, it doesn't hurt as much. I don't want you to think this is all because you 'saved' me or anything and I don't want you to see me as a charity case and like, pity date me or something, but I kind of really like you and I really want to kiss you," Kurt explained.

Blaine took a step closer, his face coming merely an inch from Kurt's as he gently reached for the other boy's hand and knotted their fingers together. "Then do it," he whispered.

And with that, the gap between them was closed, eyes fluttering shut as their lips reconnected. It was so much better than before; no hesitation or confusion. Their lips moved together, only emphasising the spark of electricity both of them felt soaring through their veins and making their hearts beat faster. Kurt brought his free hand up to cradle Blaine's face and he felt his strong jaw work as their lips slid carefully against one another.

It felt like it went on forever, and Kurt decided he would be happy to kiss Blaine for the rest of his life, but it had to come to a stop when breathing became a necessity. They broke apart, panting in short, sharp breaths.

"I, erm-" Kurt began, but Blaine cut him off.

"I want to do this properly," he stated, voice slightly strained from the shock and pleasure of kissing. "I want you to have the relationship you deserve. I want to take you out on a date and open doors for you and kiss you goodnight on your front porch and tell you how amazing you are. I want to be what you deserve."

Kurt lost his breath for a moment, his eyes squinting to make sure this perfect boy in front of him was real. He still had a hard time believing it sometimes.

"I-I would love to, but are you sure?" Kurt asked.

"Why wouldn't I be sure?" questioned Blaine.

"Because, I want to be what you deserve too. And I'm not. I'm not stable, I'm not fixed and it's going to take some getting used to being around someone who actually cares about me in that way," Kurt explained.

"I'll be with you every step of the way," Blaine assured him. "We'll go at your pace, Kurt. I know it's going to be different, but trust me it will be for me too. I've never done this and it's going to be a new experience for both of us. But don't for one second think you're not what I deserve. You are perfectly imperfect and I look forward to reminding you of that everyday."

"I swear you stepped straight out of a Disney movie," Kurt giggled.

"Well then, my prince. Would you give me the honour of letting me dance all night with you?" Blaine asked, offering a hand out to Kurt and placing the other behind his back formally. Kurt smiled and took his hand.

"I'd be happy to."

* * *

"You look very happy today, Kurt," Laurel, his therapist, mentioned when he stepped in for his appointment that week. She was sat in her chair, as usual, her long black pony tail resting on her tanned shoulder and her legs crossed as much as they could in her black pencil skirt. She slipped the pen she was holding on top of her notepad and folded her hands over her knees. "I take it the wedding went well?"

"It went very well," Kurt replied, taking a seat opposite her. "It went amazing!"

"Ah, something tells me that you're leaving out details, Kurt. You look too happy to simply have just had a nice time at the wedding," she accused. Kurt couldn't hold back his grin as he thought back to the wedding. The continued dancing in the cool air, the way Blaine smiled at him so much that he got crinkles around his eyes, the way Blaine kissed his hand before bidding him goodnight when he had to go home and the phone call that he got later that night, when he was laying in bed, that lasted until the early hours of the morning. "Come on, Kurt," Laurel continued. "You know you can talk to me about this stuff."

"Well, the ceremony was beautiful, as was the bride. Finn's speech was heartwarming, if not rather embarrassing at times, the entertainment was definitely the best we could have gotten and best of all, my date was perfect," Kurt gushed.

"You went with Blaine, didn't you?" Laurel asked. Kurt nodded eagerly, his grin not fading and his eyes a tad dreamy. "So I take it you guys talked? I know you've been crushing on him."

"You... what? I never said I've been crushing on him before!" Kurt gasped. Laurel just chuckled.

"Kurt, I've been a therapist for a while now. I know how to see how someone's feeling. With the way you look when you tell me about Blaine, it's hard not to see the way you feel about him," she explained.

Kurt gaped at her for a few moments before he spoke. "Well, yes, I have been crushing on him. And he was my date for the wedding and we slow danced and it was amazing. But then I really wanted to kiss him and I couldn't. I just... couldn't. So I went and spoke to Mercedes - I think I've mentioned her before; we were really good friends before everything happened - and she gave me some advice and after Blaine and I went outside, we talked, I kissed him, panicked, we talked again and ended up slow dancing for the rest of the night."

"Wow, what a night. What made you panic when you kissed him?" Laurel questioned, her gaze curious.

"I had a moment of doubt, I guess. I thought he would think I was crazy. Up until now, he's been my best friend and nothing else. He's been there for me when I needed him and he's done everything in his power to make me happy. I thought I might not be what he deserves because I'm damaged and I still need fixing, even if it's not as much as when we first met. I thought he might think that I was a only feeling what I am because I see him as someone who saved me or something like that. I do see him as that, but that's not what made me like him. It's hard not to like him, he's perfect. And then he said that he wanted to do things properly and be what I deserve, though really I think he's more than I deserve," Kurt explained.

"What makes you think that?" Laurel asked.

"He's perfect, he's everything. He's kind and smart and funny and sings like a dream and good looking..." Kurt listed.

"So are you," Laurel commented.

"I wouldn't say I'm all of those things, but that doesn't matter, because I have baggage," Kurt reminded her.

"So does he. You told me what happened with him and I know it was a long time ago and he's okay now, but think Kurt, one day that will be you. I'm sure when Blaine first went to live with his parents, he was in a similar situation that you were. Even though he was a child, he went through something traumatic just like you have been. I know it may not seem like it, but one day, you are going to be like Blaine. You're going to see everything that has happened as just part of your past. And though you may not forget it, it won't hurt anymore," Laurel said.

Kurt thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Thanks, Laurel," he said with a smile.

"It's not a problem," she replied with her own grin. "Now, tell me about your week."

* * *

Even though it had been nearly a week since the wedding, Kurt was still grinning like a madman. He couldn't help it. He and Blaine hadn't kissed again - yet - but just seeing Blaine everyday made him happy. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt like this. The only times he didn't were late at night, when he was attempting to sleep, but instead his thoughts crept up on him, reminding him of his doubts and his past. The nightmares weren't often, but when they were they were brutal. They usually involved Blaine and Alex. Sometimes Alex would be hurting Kurt and Blaine would be there, trying to reach Kurt and failing. But the worst ones were when Alex was hurting Blaine. Kurt would wake up with tears running down his face, crying out Blaine's name as the dream burned in his memory. He'd text Blaine, making sure he was okay, and every time Blaine would text back, no matter what time of the morning it was. Sometimes, if the dream was particularly horrible, Blaine would phone him and talk with him or sing to him until he fell asleep.

Kurt wasn't sure of many things, like when he was going to finally be over everything that happened or when his life was going to return to normal, but he was sure of Blaine and he was definitely sure of his feelings towards him.


	19. Chapter 19

Blaine loved the difference he could see in Kurt. Yes, he was still quite wary around other people. He still jumped when Puck gave me a friendly slap on the back or started slightly when Santana suddenly yelled his name across the choir room, but he was also much happier. He chatted with Mercedes the way he used to, gossiping about Rachel's choice of clothing and which cheerleader was dating which football player. He would participate more in class and in glee, always raising a hand when he knew the answer or offering to sing a song of the theme they were looking at. Blaine could see the smile that took over the gloomy expression that he wore around others.

Blaine and Kurt were sat under the bleachers Friday lunch time. Kurt still felt more comfortable eating lunch there, though a couple of times that week he'd braved the canteen, sitting closely to Blaine and distracting himself with his lunch. Now, they were eating their way through the sandwich Blaine had brought in for them to share, chatting as they did.

"Did you want to go out tomorrow?" Blaine asked.

Kurt finished chewing his mouthful as he gazed at Blaine in question. "We go out pretty much every Saturday. Why would I not want to?"

"No, I meant, did you want to go out on a date? With me. Tomorrow," Blaine clarified.

Kurt blinked at Blaine. He knew this would come after he and Blaine had talked at the wedding, even though nothing had yet been said about it, but Kurt may have unconsciously been worrying that Blaine had changed his mind about it.

"I'd love to," he answered, his eyes gleaming with delight.

"Great! I'll pick you up at about one?" Blaine suggested.

"One?" questioned Kurt. "What did you have planned?"

"That's a secret," Blaine replied, lowering his voice as if there were people around who could be listening in. "But I do suggest you wear some comfortable clothes. Especially shoes. I have a long day planned for us."

Kurt just grinned in reply as he continued to eat, his brain already working overload trying to plot an outfit.

* * *

When Kurt woke up the next morning, he was extremely excited. He had a date with Blaine. The idea was almost ludicrous, going on a date with his best friend, but it was also something he was really looking forward to. He and Blaine didn't particularly act like best friends. Not in the way, say, Puck and Finn did. They cuddled in bed and fell asleep in each other's arms whilst watching movies. They held hands sometimes and played with each others hair when they were at home relaxing. They acted kind of like boyfriends, even though they weren't really at the stage of saying that out loud yet.

Kurt rushed around his room for hours, tossing outfits aside until he found the right one, smoothing cream over his skin to make it look it's best, running his gel smeared fingers through his hair until it stayed the way he wanted it to. When the doorbell rang at one, he looked immaculate. He grabbed his keys, phone and wallet and rushed through the house, yelling a vague farewell to his dad and Carole before throwing open the door to greet Blaine.

It seemed that Blaine had gone to similar efforts. His hair was gelled, as usual, but he'd seemingly listened to Kurt's nagging as he'd used a little less than normal, making his hair well styled yet much softer looking. He wore dark jeans, which he'd rolled up to fit his leg length, and a checkered shirt. To complete his look he'd added a sweater vest and a bow tie. Kurt thought he looked positively adorable.

"You ready?" Blaine asked with a grin. By the looks of it, he was just as excited as Kurt.

"As I'll ever be," returned Kurt, stepping out and shutting the door behind him. As they walked to the car he asked, "Are you going to tell me where we're going yet?"

"It's a surprise," Blaine replied. They climbed in the car and Blaine started it, not saying anymore on the matter.

"What if I don't like surprises?" asked Kurt.

Blaine chuckled. "Then you are going to hate today. It's full of them." Kurt huffed out a breath of air, as if annoyed with Blaine, but Blaine could see the smile from the corner of his eye.

When they reached their first destination, Kurt furrowed his brow in question at Blaine. "The zoo?" he asked, his voice laced with confusion.

"I just thought it would be a fun starter activity," Blaine reasoned.

"You mean we're not going to be here for the whole date?" questioned Kurt.

"Of course not! We have two more stops after this! This is just the part where we can be fun and childish and you can decide now if you want to back out due to my immature tendencies!" Blaine explained.

Kurt laughed. "Well I can tell you now that I'm not going to back out, but that sounds like fun!"

They got out and headed towards the entrance. Kurt went to get out his wallet as they neared the ticket office but Blaine shook his head and pulled out his own wallet, taking two tickets out of it.

"I'm already way ahead of you. Now put that away and don't get it out again. I asked you out and I plan to make this as perfect as possible, so you will not be paying for anything!" Blaine insisted.

"You've already got tickets? How long have you been planning this?" Kurt asked.

"Since the wedding. It would have sucked if you said you didn't want to come today because then I'd have had to bring Wes or something and it wouldn't have been nearly as fun," joked Blaine.

"Well I hope I don't disappoint you and make you wish you'd brought Wes with you," said Kurt with a smile.

Once they'd got through the line and were in the zoo, Kurt could see what Blaine meant about his immature tendencies. He was pretty much bouncing in excitement as he made a grab for Kurt's hand and dragged him to each exhibit. He didn't let go once they got there, which made Kurt's heart beat just a little faster, and Kurt couldn't help but echo Blaine's excitement. Kurt loved their first activity. The exhibits were amazing considering it was a small zoo and the worker at each would talk about the animals. They went to the butterfly farm and Kurt couldn't help but love the way the butterflies fluttered freely around them, landing on a leaf every so often so that they could get a closer look. They also went to the sea life exhibit, which was definitely Kurt and Blaine's favourite. They had tanks where you could feed the fish, big tanks which you could peer into to see dolphins swimming around and a giant tank which had a tunnel they could walk through so that the fish were swimming around them.

They had stopped off to have a little lunch in the cafe and chatted as they ate, Blaine's hand still clutching Kurt's across the table, not caring who saw. Kurt couldn't help but grin at this act. Alex had never done anything like this. He didn't realise a date could be this enjoyable.

They left the zoo around 4, after Kurt had managed to convince Blaine that he didn't need to buy him a giant dolphin toy, and hopped into the car ready for their next stop. They drove to Westerville, which was a pretty long drive and so they filled it with music and singing and laughter. Blaine knew that Kurt would definitely like this activity, although he could see the confusion on Kurt's face when they pulled up to Westerville community centre. Instead of explaining, he pulled out his wallet again and revealed two tickets. He handed them over to Kurt to read.

"West Side Story?" asked Kurt.

"I know it's no Broadway or Wicked, but it's difficult to get tickets to New York with a week's notice," Blaine chuckled. "So I thought we could see how Westerville's local drama club manage."

Kurt threw his arms around Blaine - although it was quite a struggle with the centre console between them - and squeezed him tightly. "Thank you! I haven't seen a musical in... I don't even remember the last time I went to see a musical that wasn't on DVD. This is going to be great!"

Blaine grinned, glad that Kurt was so enthusiastically pleased with their second activity. "I'm glad you like it. "Now lets go get our seats before the show starts!"

Blaine barely paid attention to the musical, even if it was one of his favourites. Instead, he watched Kurt; the way his eyes shined with delight and how he quietly whispered the words of the songs along with the actors and the way his hand squeezed Blaine's tightly as if Blaine's hand would disappear if he loosened his grip. It was amazing to see this side of Kurt. It was like the Kurt he saw when they watched musicals on Blaine's bed, only more emphasised.

When the show was over and they walked out and climbed into the car, Kurt told Blaine about all of his favourite parts, all of the actors he thought portrayed their part perfectly and which singer was the best. Blaine smiled as Kurt talked to him, loving the way Kurt was relaxed and comfortable. It was almost as if all of his troubles were forgotten. When the road took them into some woods though, Kurt looked at Blaine questioningly.

"If the third activity is taking me into the woods to murder me then I think I'd rather go home and order take out," Kurt jested, but Blaine just chuckled.

"Don't worry, I left all of my murdering tools at home," Blaine returned. "This is going to be a little less violent."

Blaine took them down a dirt road and pulled up next to a tall fence. He stopped the car and gestured for Kurt to get out. Kurt still looked perplexed. "What's this?" he asked.

"Wes's family have a good few acres of land behind their home, and this is part of it. I just thought it would be a lot safer so we don't run into any murderers or anything," Blaine said with a wink.

"But where are we going?" Kurt inquired. "Are we going to hang out with Wes?"

"I thought we agreed that Wes wouldn't be as fun," Blaine laughed. "No, if we were we'd go through the front entrance. You'll see why I've brought you here soon!"

The walk to their third activity was only about 5 minutes and was filled with idle chat and hand holding. Kurt soon saw the glow coming through the trees and looked over at Blaine with a questioning expression. Blaine just raised his eyebrows, gesturing for Kurt to continue walking. They approached the lights and Kurt soon saw what the finale to their date was.

In front of them was a small clearing, surrounded by trees which had been draped in multitudes of fairy lights, some still and some flashing but all just as pretty. In the middle of the clearing was a fort made up of tent poles with blankets draped across the top and underneath and a wide opening to let in light. On the floor of the fort was a large picnic basket, two plates and two cups. Kurt felt tears welling in his eyes at the sight ahead of him which made Blaine panic immediately.

"Oh my God, don't cry Kurt. I thought you'd like it. If you want we can just go home and order that take out and watch some movies or-"

Blaine was cut off by Kurt's arm tangling themselves around his neck as Kurt pulled him into a tight embrace. "Shut up!" Kurt complained. "I love it. No one's ever gone to this much effort for me."

"It wasn't _that _much effort," Blaine assured him. "I had Wes's help with setting it up and he brought the food out just so that it didn't get eaten by any animals or anything."

Kurt pulled away to look at Blaine. "But still! You've thought everything out and everything is perfect. This is the best date ever," Kurt stated, wiping furiously at his eyes to rid of the stray tears.

"Well in that case, shall we eat, Mr Hummel?" Blaine asked, offering a hand to Kurt, formally.

"We shall," Kurt replied and took Blaine's hand. Blaine led them over to the fort and allowed Kurt to take a seat before doing so himself. He opened the picnic basket and rifled through the food taking out all sorts; sandwiches, fruit, chips, pasta salad.

"I didn't know what you'd want so I brought a bit of everything," Blaine admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's perfect," Kurt assured him, tucking in.

Once they'd finished, they lay back on the blanket just outside where the 'roof' of the fort ended and looked up at the stars through the overhanging branches from the trees, fingers entwined together and faces mere inches apart.

"Thank you," whispered Kurt.

Blaine's eyes flickered over to meet Kurt's. "What for?" he asked.

"For everything. Today was perfect. I still can't believe you planned all of this for us," Kurt explained. "This date had made me realise just how much fun and excitement a date could be. When I went on dates with Alex when we first started going out, it would just be going to Breadstix and listening to him talk about himself. Or going to a party and being his accessory. It didn't feel like a date." Kurt bit down on his bottom lip when he realised what he had said. "I shouldn't have brought that up, I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, Kurt. I'm glad that you don't feel like that on this date," Blaine replied.

"This has been the best day of my life," Kurt grinned.

"I really want to break my rules," Blaine suddenly stated.

"You... what?" Kurt asked, confused.

"Well, before this date I made some rules for myself to make sure that it was perfect. I would do this properly and be a perfect gentlemen; hold your hand but only give you a kiss goodnight at the door. Now I'm kind of wishing we were at your door, because I really want to kiss you." As Blaine said this, his eyes flickered between Kurt's eyes and his lips, making Kurt's heart beat faster in his chest.

"Would it help if I gave you permission to break your rules?" Kurt queried.

"Yes. Definitely," Blaine said firmly.

"In that case, I give you permission." Kurt grinned in delight as Blaine leaned forwards to join their lips. As soon as their lips touched, they both felt the shock of electricity they'd felt before. The spark which ignited and spread through each bone and muscle and vein in their bodies. It felt like fireworks.

Their lips separated momentarily, their foreheads staying together as Blaine whispered, "Will you be my boyfriend?" Instead of answering, Kurt just leaned back in to reconnect their lips and reignite the spark. A spoken answer wasn't needed.

The day had been perfect.


	20. Chapter 20

Burt noticed the change in his son when he returned from his day out with Blaine. To anyone else he looked the same as he would when he usually returned from seeing Blaine; wide smile and slight bounce to his step. But this time there was something about the way his eyes shined just that little bit brighter that told Burt something about this outing was special.

"Good time, Kurt?" he asked when Kurt collapsed onto the sofa.

"Yeah, it was good," Kurt replied, eyes on the TV and his voice monotonous, although his face still expressed great excitement and happiness.

Burt frowned. Kurt could normally talk for hours about what he had done with Blaine that weekend, but today he was being too quiet.

"Is something wrong Kurt?" Burt questioned.

"Nope," Kurt answered, almost too quickly for Burt's liking. He still hadn't made eye contact with his father and Burt was beginning to get suspicious. He watched his son as he played with his fingers in his lap. Kurt could see his dad watching him out of the corner of his eye and eventually had to look up to meet his eyes. He knew then that he'd have to tell his father sooner or later what was going on.

"Okay, if I tell you, promise you won't get mad," Kurt said.

Burt's mind was running a mile a minute with reasons that his son thought he'd be mad. Had he been taking drugs or smoking? Was he going to clubs? Burt shook his head and just replied, "I promise."

"Today... I mean, what me and Blaine did today, was a date," Kurt murmured. "I went on a date with Blaine and he asked me to be his boyfriend and I said yes."

There was a few seconds of silence before Burt replied. "That's amazing, kiddo!"

"What?" snapped Kurt, furrowing his brow in confusion.

"I mean you like Blaine a lot, right? And you do want to be his boyfriend?"

"Yeah, I really do."

"Then that's fantastic!" Burt ensured him.

"But, I just thought you might be mad. I mean, you know, after what happened last time..." Kurt trailed off, knowing Burt would know what he meant.

"Kurt, just because some guy messed you about a lot doesn't mean that I'm going to stop you from dating at all. Anyway, I like Blaine. I trust him with you and I know he'd never do anything to hurt you. I know you like him a lot so what's the point in stopping you from seeing him?" Burt explained.

"You knew I liked him?" Kurt queried.

"Er, yeah," Burt chuckled, as if it were obvious. "Come on, every time you come home from seeing him you have this big dopey grin on your face. It's pretty difficult for me to miss!" Kurt rolled his eyes at his father, but was secretly overjoyed about Burt's approval. "Now, when Carole gets home, you're going to tell us all about your date and everything. She won't want to miss this."

Kurt smiled at his dad before rushing up to wrap his arms around him. "Thanks, dad. You're the best dad I could ever ask for."

"Only because you're the best son," Burt returned.

And indeed, when Carole returned home, the three sat with mugs of tea or hot chocolate and Kurt told them all about the wedding and all about the date, leaving out the kiss in the fort and at the door in case Burt got too over protective, and Burt and Carole just smiled as they watched the excitement on Kurt's face. They could see Blaine was good for him. They could see Blaine was the only one who could truly heal Kurt and teach him how to be loved again.

* * *

Blaine couldn't stop smiling. His cheeks were aching and his jaw felt stiff, but he couldn't wipe the grin off of his face if he tried. He twirled around the driveway a few times on his journey between the car and the door, before entering and rushing straight upstairs to ring Wes. Wes answered on the second ring.

"Blainers! I've been waiting for your call. How did wooing Kurt go?"Wes asked immediately, without even so much as a hello.

"Hello to you too, Wesley," Blaine replied.

"Oh don't be like that, I can practically hear you grinning. Now talk," Wes instructed.

So Blaine talked. He told him about holding Kurt's hand and how beautiful Kurt looked when they were watching the musical and how much Kurt liked the picnic and how he'd kissed Kurt and asked him to be his boyfriend and how Kurt had kissed him back in agreement and how much Kurt's eyes shined under the porch lights when he kissed him goodbye at the door. He included each and every detail he could provide and Wes didn't interrupt as he spoke, simply inserted a "uhuh" or "yeah" every so often to let Blaine know he was still listening.

"So, basically, it was perfect!" Blaine finished.

"I'm happy for you, Blaine. You and Kurt have to be one of the most adorable couples ever. Hell, you might even trump Niff in adorableness points," Wes chuckled.

"I really like him," was all Blaine replied with.

"Aw, you're just too cute. Are you going out again?" questioned Wes.

"Well, we both have a lot of homework so we're going to go out after school on Monday instead of tomorrow. I think we're going to go to The Lima Bean to get coffee. It's our favourite coffee place," Blaine told him.

"Oh God. You're even starting to talk in 'we's and 'our's. Urgh, you're giving me a cavity," Wes complained.

"You suck," Blaine stated.

Wes burst out laughing. "I thought we had this conversation, Blaine. And I have a girlfriend and you have a boyfriend."

"Shut up. I hate you," Blaine growled, but the fact that Kurt had been referred to as his boyfriend just made his grin wider.

"You'll never hate me. You love me too much to hate me," Wes said.

"Fine, I don't hate you. I just don't particularly like you," Blaine corrected himself.

"Nope. I'm the one you tell everything to and who you will eventually be coming to for romantic advice when you find something to panic about," Wes informed him.

"I doubt that Wesley," Blaine sighed. "Now go away because I need to go and talk to my parents."

"Is that really a good idea?" asked Wes. "I mean, you and Kurt have sleepovers all the time. Are they going to let you do that if they find out you're dating?"

"My parents trust me," Blaine replied. "Plus they know what Kurt has been through and they know that I'd never rush him into anything."

"Damn you and your cool parents. Mine have never let me have my girlfriend sleep over, even when we'd only been dating for like a week, " Wes complained.

"Yeah, well you're a typical boy. Anyway, I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

"Sure dude. And we'll catch up sometime. See you later, Blainers. And don't daydream about Kurt too much or you'll drive yourself clinically insane. Love you man," Wes chuckled.

"Yeah whatever," Blaine laughed. "Later!"

Now there was just his parents to tell.

* * *

School the next day was amazing. Sure, they'd agreed that morning that they wouldn't hold hands or show any affection that suggested more than friends in school. This was simply due to the fact that they didn't want to draw too much attention to them or give anyone an excuse to push them around. The only people who knew were them and Finn, who had walked in on Kurt's conversation with Carole and Burt and had been intrigued. He was told he was allowed to tell the guys in glee but that was it. However, their rules didn't mean that they didn't spend lunch time under the bleachers, feeding each other their shared lunch and holding hands.

After school, they decided that they'd go home to drop their things before going to get coffee. Blaine said he'd be a bit longer as he needed to head over to some sports store to pick up some new football equipment. Due to everything that had been happening with Kurt, Blaine hadn't got around to actually trying out for football and they'd got someone else to be kicker, but the guy had only done it to impress a girl that he liked, and when he found out she had a boyfriend he quit straight away. Blaine decided he was going to take that opportunity to join whilst he could.

When Blaine reached the store, he spent as little time as possible browsing so that he could meet Kurt. He was so focused on his purchases that he didn't notice the boys hanging around the store, watching him. He simply just grabbed what he needed, paid as quickly as possible and went to rush out the door. He didn't notice that he was being followed.

That is until he felt a hand on the back of his collar dragging him back and around the edge of the store, eventually shoving him up a wall. He instantly recognised the man that was being flanked by two other men, but before he could say anything, the man said two words.

"Get him."

* * *

Kurt was beginning to get worried. When Blaine was late by half an hour was when he'd started to worry. He tried to phone Blaine, but there was no answer. So he got two more coffees and waited. The minutes passed by, forty five minutes late, an hour late, an hour and a half late. Something had to be wrong. Blaine wouldn't stand him up. He tried phoning Blaine again and again but still no answer. After two hours of waiting, Kurt was about to give up and go to Blaine's house to see if he'd gone there, but then his phone rang. He didn't even look at the caller ID, as there was only one person who really phoned him other than his dad, and his dad knew where he was.

"Blaine! Are you alright? You're two hours late I was starting to worry," Kurt exclaimed.

"Kurt?" asked the voice on the end of the line.

"Linda?" Kurt brought his phone away from his ear and found that it was indeed Blaine's mother ringing him.

"Kurt, were you waiting for Blaine?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm at The Lima Bean. He was supposed to be here 2 hours ago," Kurt replied.

"We're right by The Lima Bean. We'll stop to pick you up. You'll probably want to come with us," Linda told him.

"Wait, go where?"

"We just got a call from the hospital," she said. "It's Blaine."

* * *

_**[A/N] Please don't hurt me. I'm sorry for doing this. Thanks for your reviews. Reviews are my fuel for writing! I hope you likeD this chapter and if you don't then I give you permission to tell me I suck. Thanks for reading!**_


	21. Chapter 21

**_[A/N] Here's chapter 21 (yes, 21, yay!) and if things go as they're going in my head, there should only be a couple of chapters left. I'm not sure whether that makes me happy or sad! Anyway, I hope you like this chapter! Thanks for the reviews. Reviews are love and are the fuel for my writing :)_**

* * *

Kurt hated hospitals. They brought back bad memories of when his mother was sick and that one time he'd been thrown into the dumpsters and sprained his wrist, when he panicked and honestly thought it was badly broken. But at this moment in time, he couldn't care less. No, instead he was much too busy worrying about his boyfriend, holding Linda's arm as they frantically stormed down the corridor in search of Blaine's room.

As soon as they reached it, they barged through the door, Andrew in tow behind them. The sight they were greeted with broke their hearts. Blaine was sat up in bed asleep, a bandage wrapped around his head, his arm in a cast, a stitched lip, a black eye and various bruises on his arms. Kurt's breath hitched and tears came to his eyes at the sight. Before he could stop himself he was rushing to Blaine's side and grabbing his hand.

He hadn't meant to jostle him, but his force made Blaine stir and his eyes fluttered open. "Kurt?" he murmured, his voice sounding scratchy and rough.

"Oh, Blaine," Kurt whispered, tears beginning to spill down his cheeks.

"I like waking up and seeing you," Blaine sighed, a loving smile forming on his face.

Kurt couldn't help but smile through his tears. "I'm not sure whether that's you or the pain medication."

"A mixture of both," Blaine said.

"What happened?"Kurt sniffed.

"I'm not sure I should tell you," Blaine groaned. "Because if I do then you're going to be mad and sad and I hate seeing you mad and sad."

"Blaine, what happened?" Linda piped up, grasping the arm on the opposite side of Blaine, lightly as not to hurt him.

* * *

"Get him."

"Alex, what are you doing?" Blaine questioned desperately as Alex's friends each stepped around him to grab Blaine's arms.

"I heard about you and Kurt," Alex hissed.

"How-" Blaine began, but he was cut off.

"I do have friends on the football team still. Some of the guys overheard that giant moron step brother of Kurt's, Hudson, telling that douchebag Puck. They thought it would interest me," Alex explained. "I knew you were sleeping with him, but that was meant to be temporary. Dating him? You're obviously desperate."

"It's non of your business if I'm dating Kurt," Blaine growled.

"Yes, it is. He's still mine. He's just being an idiot and making a mistake. He'll come crawling back to me eventually. Once he realises that no one actually wants him," Alex returned.

"I want him," Blaine stated. He tried to move out of Alexs's friends' grips, but found that their grips just tightened. "He'll never come back to you because you are cruel and abusive and don't deserve him."

"Believe what you want. You'll soon get over the novelty of a good fuck and find someone better," Alex spat. Blaine tried to launch at Alex, snarling at him, but he was held back. "Aw, look, he's trying to defend his fuck buddy. You want to show him who's boss, boys? Shotgun first punch."

"He's all yours, dude," one of the other boys laughed.

Before Blaine could protest, a fist met his jaw and he tried not to show the pain he felt on his face. The boys pushed him to the wall, pinning him there so that Alex could continue to punch him. He went for the stomach and Blaine curled in on himself automatically, giving them an opportunity to send him to the floor. He tried to catch himself with his arm, but it landed odd and he felt a sharp pain shoot down the length of it. The ground below him was rough and gravelly. Blaine swore he could feel glass beneath him too. The punches had stopped, but they continued kicking his stomach, arms, legs; anywhere they could reach.

"HEY!" came a cry. The kicks stopped and the men took off running in the opposite direction of the voice. Blaine's eyes were closed, but he heard the sound of footsteps on gravel approaching him. "Oh my God, are you okay?"

Blaine's eyes fluttered open, his vision blurry, and he could just make a woman kneeling down beside him, pulling out a cell phone. He barely heard the frantic 911 call as he let his eyes fall shut again and let himself drift into unconsciousness.

* * *

Blaine's story was less detailed and he'd cut parts out, but it still had Kurt gripping his hand tightly. At first, Blaine thought it was because he was scared that Alex had once again made an appearance. However, Kurt's thoughts seemed to be heading in a different direction.

"This is all my fault."

"What?" demanded Blaine.

"This is all my fault," Kurt sobbed. "If I had just shut you out and never became friends with you then non of this would have happened. He wouldn't have done this. This is all my fault."

"Kurt," Blaine sighed. "Don't talk like that. This is non of your fault. And you shutting me out would hurt a thousand times more than taking a beating."

"I hate seeing you hurt," Kurt said. "Is this what it was like for you?"

"Worse. Because I knew that it was preventable and I knew the person hurting you was supposed to be someone who cared about you."

"I'm so sorry for putting you through his Blaine. I'm sorry for everything," Kurt cried, squeezing Blaine's hand tightly.

"Please don't be sorry," Blaine whispered. "Please don't feel bad."

"I can't help it," Kurt said. "I-"

Kurt was interrupted by the doctor entering. "Ah, Blaine, I take it these are your parents." The doctor gestured to Linda and Andrew. He glanced at Kurt and added, "And this is a friend?"

"My boyfriend," Blaine corrected him. "My Kurt." Kurt's heart swelled to twice it's size at that.

The doctor raised his eyebrows. "Ah, well it's nice to meet you. I'm Doctor Reilly. Are you comfortable him being here to hear the details?" Blaine nodded enthusiastically at that. "Okay, so, basically Blaine had a rather deep cut on the back of his head caused by glass, which we've stitched up along with his split lip. It looks like he fell bad on his arm and it's broken so he may be in cast for a while, and he's got a few cracked ribs which we've taped up. Other than that he's got some bruises and scratches which we've tried our best to soothe, but only time will fully heal them. We want to keep him over night to check that he doesn't have any concussion, but he seems to be doing well so far. If you pick him up tomorrow then we can show you how to treat his injuries at home. Do you have any questions?" The group shook their heads. "Well, if you do then don't be afraid to come and find someone and ask."

"Thank you, doctor," Andrew said with a grateful nod.

* * *

The next day Blaine was released. He had been shown how to treat his injuries and keep clean whilst avoiding getting his cast wet. Kurt had taken a day off from school to stay with his boyfriend and help look after him and help him settle back at home. He'd also been there for him when he spoke to a police officer about the incident, although he avoided listening as it made his heart hurt.

For once, it was Kurt comforting Blaine. It felt odd to have the roles reversed and he didn't like the reason it was required, but it felt good knowing he could help Blaine instead of Blaine helping him. They lounged in casual clothes, watching Blaine's choice of musical this time, Blaine's head resting on Kurt's chest and Kurt idly running his fingers through his boyfriend's thick, loose curls.

"I'm so happy I met you," whispered Blaine, peeking up to look at Kurt.

Kurt stayed silence for a few seconds, smiling at Blaine. "I'm so happy I met you too." Blaine tilted his head upwards to kiss Kurt chastely on the lips, avoiding contact with his split lip. "And I'm so happy you're my boyfriend."

"Mm, you're the best," Blaine sighed, nosing at Kurt's cheek.

"I'm sorry about what's happened. You don't deserve this. You're too good for me," Kurt replied.

"That's a lie. If anything you're too good for me. I am the luckiest guy ever."

"I don't think so," Blaine chuckled.

Kurt and Blaine both smiled at one another, before looking back at the TV to watch the movie. Blaine began drifting off in the comfort of Kurt's arms, and just before he slipped into slumber he mumbled something against Kurt's chest. Kurt didn't make out quite what he said, but he planned to ask him later. In the meantime, he held his boyfriend a little closer.


	22. Chapter 22

**_[A/N] Here it is, folks! The last chapter of Bubble Wrap. I know I said that there would be a couple more chapters, but I think this ending fit better. And now that it's finished, I have the duty of reading it all over again and checking for mistakes! I hope you enjoy it and it's been a pleasure writing for you! Thanks for all of the favourites, follows and reviews I've received and thank you to those who have been reading from the start! All my love, llamaswithbowties (aka Soph :)!) (P.S I still need a front cover so if anyone has any recommendations then please contact me!)_**

* * *

It had been 2 weeks since the incident and slowly things were getting better. Blaine's injuries were healing well and he returned to school, facing all of the questions he was asked by his friends in Glee club. Sectionals went by with Blaine being treated to a makeover by Kurt to hide his bruises. His cast however was a little more difficult to hide. They drew with the Warblers, which lead to a big Warbler/New Directions party at Blaine's house.

Alex was sent to juvie and given a restraining order so that he couldn't approach either Kurt or Blaine. Blaine had been told by his parents who were phoned by a police officer and then went on to tell the New Directions as a whole - to which Puck told them he wouldn't last five minutes. Kurt couldn't be happier. He hugged Blaine so tightly and whispered, "He's gone. I can't believe he's gone and he can't hurt us anymore."

Laurel, Kurt's therapist, noticed a definite change in Kurt. He didn't appear to be anxious anymore and rarely got paranoid. She therefore told him that she only wanted to see him once a month from then on, unless things got bad again. In celebration of this, Kurt and Blaine decided they'd change Thursday night to date night.

The next Thursday, Kurt decided it was his turn to surprise Blaine with a date. He told Blaine to be at his house for 7 and dress in something comfortable and then got to work. When Blaine showed up at 7 on the dot, he was very eager to find out what Kurt had in store for him. When he opened the door, he was surprised to see Kurt, dressed in jeans and a plain t-shirt, with an apron over his outfit. His hair was styled, but strands were beginning to fall onto his forehead in the way that made Blaine think he was plain adorable.

"Blaine!" Kurt greeted him, throwing his arms around Blaine's neck and squeezing him tightly.

"Hey," Blaine whispered into Kurt's ear, wrapping his arms around Kurt's waist to accept the embrace.

"Sorry, I don't exactly look like I've made effort for our date, but I knew I'd get messy so I thought I'd avoid ruining one of my favourite Marc Jacobs shirts," Kurt explained as he lent back to look at his boyfriend. Blaine raised his eyebrows in question and Kurt blushed. "I've been cooking. And there's plenty more to do. C'mon, I'll show you!"

Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand and pulled in into the house, making sure the door was shut behind them. He lead him into the kitchen, where the most delicious smells radiated from, and went back to stirring a pot.

"So I've made us dinner and I've made some cookie dough and I thought for dessert we could bake our own cookies," Kurt continued. "If you want to that is. If not, I'm sure I can find something else."

"That sounds great!" Blaine reassured him. "Fantastic even. And I'm sure I won't be able to mess up!"

"Exactly," Kurt said with a wink. "Now, sit at the table and I'll be right with you. You can put some music on if you want. I've made a playlist on my iPod."

Blaine headed over to where Kurt's iPod was docked and opened up his playlist, finding one labelled "Date Night". He shuffled the songs and smiled as the quiet and calm music began. He sat down and watched Kurt as he finished serving up the dinner.

"Okay," Kurt said as he brought the plates over. "I've made chicken and pasta in white wine sauce and I've thrown together some salad if you'd like any." Kurt set the plate in front of Blaine who immediately smiled.

"You're definitely the cook in this relationship. I could never make this if I tried!" Blaine chuckled.

"It's easy! I'll show you how to one day. You need cooking lessons, Anderson," Kurt returned with a grin. "Now, what would you like to drink? We have juice or coke or we could be grown up and sophisticated and have a glass of wine."

"Hmm, as this is a special occasion I might be grown up and sophisticated for once," Blaine said thoughtfully.

"Special occasion? What are we celebrating?" asked Kurt as he poured himself and Blaine a glass of wine.

"Freedom. You getting better. Us," Blaine listed.

"Those are all things worth celebrating," Kurt laughed. He finished pouring and held up his glass, which Blaine mimicked. "To us."

"To us," Blaine repeated and they clinked their glasses together.

Dinner went well. Blaine loved the food and they chatted happily. After dinner, Kurt found the cookie dough and rolled it out onto the clean kitchen counter. He produced a whole box of cookie cutters, featuring letters and numbers and lots of different shapes.

"What do you want to make? We have a lot of cookie dough," Kurt inquired.

"Hm," Blaine hummed, thoughtfully. He reached into the box and pulled out four letters. He pressed them into the dough and peeled out the letters before laying them out onto the tray. "I made the name of the most amazing guy ever." They both looked down to the word 'KURT' made out of cookie dough.

"I'm pretty sure that's not how you spell Blaine," Kurt said, before delving into the box to find the letters of Blaine's name. After making both of their names, they made the date of the day that they got together as well as several animals, some musical notes and stars like there were on their first date. They also made other things that made each of them think of each other, like coffee cups and clothes, as well as a variety of shapes for decoration including hearts and flowers. They ran out of cookie dough and, whilst Blaine ate the last remnants, Kurt put the cookies in the oven.

Whilst the cookies baked, they decided to watch a film. Kurt let Blaine choose as it was his treat, so Blaine being Blaine chose The Little Mermaid. Kurt told him he was childish, but shut up when Blaine reminded him that he did own the film on DVD. They cuddled on the sofa watching the movie together, Blaine's head on Kurt's chest, one arm around Kurt's back and the arm with the cast lying across Kurt's stomach. Every so often, Kurt would drop a kiss to Blaine's forehead and then his nose and finally his lips, to which Blaine responded immediately. Short chaste kisses turned into making out, both of them smiling as much as was possible when attached to another person at the mouth.

They were interupted however when you oven timer went off, blaring loudly.

"Ignore it," Blaine groaned against Kurt's mouth.

"I can't ignore it, the cookies will burn," Kurt protested.

"I'd rather the cookies burn than stop kissing you," Blaine argued.

"Well, I wouldn't. Come on, budge!" Kurt insisted. Blaine pouted, but moved off of Kurt and trailed behind him as he headed into the kitchen. He quickly donned a pair of oven gloves and opened the oven, allowing a waft of cookie scented heat to escape. As soon as Kurt had placed the tray on the counter top, Blaine went to grab one, but Kurt stopped him.

"Nuh uh," he said. "Those are really hot. We need to wait for them to cool!"

"So our kissing was stopped because of cookies that I can't even eat yet. What if Finn comes home and eats them all?" Blaine complained.

"He's stopping at Rachel's tonight," Kurt told him.

"They're back together?"

"Yup. Apparently there's something about Rachel's animal sweaters and over enthusiastic, self-absorbed personality that Finn just can't be away from," Kurt chuckled. "Whilst they're cooling we can make some hot chocolate?"

"With marshmallows?" asked Blaine.

"Whatever you want," Kurt grinned. He whipped up their hot chocolate and marshmallows before putting the cookies onto a plate. They carried them through to the living room so that they could snack and drink whilst watching the movie. Blaine couldn't help but giggle as he ate the letters of Kurt's name, and said "Hey, look, Kurt, I'm eating you!" Kurt had just rolled his eyes at that.

After they were too full to finish the cookies and had drank the hot chocolate, they went back to cuddling and watching the film. By the time Burt and Carole returned, they were fast asleep in each other's arms.

* * *

Their relationship was stronger than ever at this point; they were each other's everything. Kurt and Blaine were getting coffee on a Monday after school and Kurt was chatting away about the latest issue of Vogue and how when he moved to New York, people would probably appreciate what he wore. Blaine sat watching him, barely hearing a word he said, and leaning his chin on his hand. Kurt went to take a sip of coffee, giving Blaine the chance to input his opinion.

"I love you," Blaine sighed.

Kurt's breathing halted and he had to stop himself from spitting out the coffee that was in his mouth. He looked at Blaine, who's loving expression hadn't changed and forced himself to swallow the coffee and begin breathing again.

"I love you too," he said, his voice a little quiet, but Blaine still heard him. Blaine's expression was still the same and he couldn't help but return a smile. "You know, when you stop to think about it, Kurt Hummel's had a pretty good year." He reached across the table and gently took Blaine's hand. "Because of you."

"I could say the same." Blaine grinned and nodded to the door. "Want to get out of here? I don't think the customers of The Lima Bean would enjoy me kissing you as much as I would."

Kurt couldn't even speak. Instead he just nodded furiously, taking Blaine's hand properly in his as they rushed towards the exit.

Indeed, it had been a pretty good year for both of them. Who knew what their senior year would bring.


	23. Epilogue

_**[A/N] So, hi! I think I was having withdrawal symptoms as I felt the need to write and epilogue. Yeah this epilogue was needed. I've nearly finished checking for mistakes so, if you've noticed any, please message me or something to point them out. I'm so happy about the feedback I've received on this and I hope you like my epilogue. It's been a pleasure writing for you!**_

_**P.S. I may be starting a new story soon, so if you'd be interested in reading then keep an eye on my page or follow me. I have some ideas and I just need to write them out. It sucks that all my ideas seem to come when I'm in my bed half asleep... I need a doodle pillow. ANYWAY, I'm getting off topic, but yeah, thanks again and you're all awesome and blah blah blah, I'm going to let you read now. Bye!**_

* * *

It was 5 years later and everything was going well. Kurt had only had one major break down. It was in the middle of his and Blaine's first big argument. Neither of them could really remember what it was about - probably something stupid - but it was during their finals and both of them were stressed. There was a lot of shouting, and Blaine raising his voice reminded him so much of his past and he broke down crying. Blaine tried to comfort him, but Kurt just yelled and begged not to be hurt. As soon as Blaine realised what was happening he began apologising immediately and didn't stop until Kurt would let him touch him. He cuddled him, kissed him, apologised profusely, but Kurt couldn't stop crying. Blaine thought for a moment that Kurt was still upset with him, but then Kurt sobbed "I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry about, Kurt?" Blaine asked.

"Couples argue all the time. It's normal. I can't even get through some petty argument without breaking down," Kurt explained.

"Kurt, it's fine-"

"No! It's not! It's stupid! How am I supposed to do anything when I can't even get through a stupid argument. How am I going to be brave enough to go to New York and follow my dreams if I break down every time you so much as raise your voice?"

Blaine held Kurt tighter, whispering reassuring things in his ear and trying to make him feel better. Afterwards, they talked and agreed that Kurt should go back to therapy for a while. He continued going at least once a fortnight, working with Laurel to heal himself until he graduated, and once he had, he felt brave and courageous and much more ready to take on the world.

Both boys went to New York after graduation. They moved into a crappy apartment, which was barely big enough to fit in their furniture, but they didn't particularly care about the size or the quality. They were just happy to be living with one another, even if some nights they had to don extra sweaters and socks, and cuddle as close as possible in order to keep warm. Even if sometimes, they couldn't get warm water and Kurt complained that his hair wouldn't go the way he wanted it do.

Blaine went to NYU to study music and Kurt went to Parsons to study fashion. The colleges were close, which meant they often spent lunch together and they managed to work out their times so that they would get to see one another as well as study. They both made new friends, but they always made time for each other and even engaged in many double dates.

After graduation, neither of them had much trouble finding work. Kurt had thoroughly enjoyed his internship with and had created a good relationship with Isabelle Wright, an executive at the company. She had managed to get Kurt a job there after talking about how well Kurt had done in his interning and how she knew he would go on to be big. Blaine had received a phone call from Wes after his graduation, explaining that his cousin had a record label, but his wife was due to have a baby and he was struggling to find someone to manage the label. Wes had immediately recommended Blaine and Blaine accepted happily. Overall, both of their careers were going well and they were both happy in the jobs they had.

Their relationship was still strong and Blaine and Kurt both knew that they had met the person they were going to marry one day.

* * *

Today was going to be perfect. Blaine knew it. It was their 6th anniversary and he had plans. Big plans. Life changing plans. But all the same, these plans would be what made his dreams come true, if all went right. So when Blaine practically skipped through the door after work, guitar on his back, flowers in hand and a smile on his face, he was confused as to why he heard crying coming from the living room. He set his guitar down in the hall and called out "Kurt?"

"Blaine?" he heard Kurt call back, and the scene instantly reminded him of high school.

"Kurt, are you okay?" Blaine asked as he walked into the living room. Sure enough, Kurt was curled up on the couch, pen and sketchbook abandoned on the floor and his face wet with tears. He wiped furiously at his eyes with his sleeves, but didn't change his protective position.

"I... I don't know," Kurt admitted.

Blaine sat down on the couch next to him and Kurt immediately curled into him, wrapping his arms around his waist and settling his face into Blaine's shoulder. Blaine felt the tears dripping onto his shirt and he squeezed Kurt. "Kurt, you're scaring me. What's wrong?"

"Have you seen the news?" Kurt asked, his voice muffled by Blaine's shirt.

"No, why?"

Kurt lifted his head, found the remote control and rewound the news programme that was playing until he reached the correct point. He then pressed play.

"In other news, the body of Anthony Richardson was found in his home in Ohio this morning. He was murdered by his partner of 4 years, Alex Hughes, who he shares the home with." A photo of both the man murdered, and his murderer appeared on the screen. Of course, Blaine instantly recognised one of them. "Police believe that Hughes stabbed Richardson several times in the chest. Friends and family admit that they believe Anthony was being abused by his partner, but when they questioned him it was denied. Upon arrest, Hughes said 'He was so pathetic. Really I was doing him a favour. It's what he deserved.' An investigation is being carried out, but police say it's very likely that Hughes will be put away for life."

As the presenter went on to talk about another news story, Kurt stabbed at the remote to turn the TV off altogether.

"Oh, Kurt," Blaine whispered, tightening his grip on his boyfriend.

"Don't you get it Blaine? It could have been me! It would have been me, had you not saved me!" Kurt sobbed.

"Kurt, babe, no. You would have gotten out eventually, whether or not you had me," Blaine assured him. "You were stronger than you thought you were."

"No, I was weak. I still am. I mean, the mere thought of 'what if' is enough to make me break down." Kurt looked from where he rested on Blaine's chest to the flowers which Blaine had places next to himself on the couch. "Crap, I completely ruined our anniversary. I had flowers for you and I had the whole night planned. We were going to get dinner and come home and put on a movie which we wouldn't end up watching anyway and I've ruined it before we even-"

Blaine cut him off with a finger to his lips. "Stop. You haven't ruined it. As long as I have you it could never be ruined. Now here's what we're going to do. We're going to go out and get dinner and then come home and put on that movie which we won't end up watching and you're not going to think about sad things. Today's a happy day, yeah?"

"Couldn't be happier. Six years with the most amazing man I've ever met," Kurt answered, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"I thought that's what I was celebrating," Blaine smirked.

"Love you," whispered Kurt, his face all of a sudden so close to Blaine's, there lips inches apart.

"Love you too," replied Blaine, closing the distance and pecking Kurt on the lips. "Now come on. You're picking where we eat!"

* * *

They decided on a little Italian restaurant which they had already been to many times and adored. They did everything as cliche and cheesy as possible; shared their food, fed one another and exchanged kisses over the table. They were halfway through a cheesecake when Blaine looked up and asked "Are you still upset?"

Kurt's eyes widened as they met with Blaine's and he forced himself to swallow his mouthful of food.

"Oh, not really. I guess it was a bit of a shock and it didn't help that I was alone. That's all in the past now. Now I have you and that's all I need. You make me happy," Kurt said, his lips tugging up in a slight smile.

"I'm glad," Blaine smiled. "Want me to ask for the check whilst we finish this and we can take a walk around central park?"

"Someone's being a romantic tonight," Kurt commented.

"You make me want to be romantic," Blaine said with a smile. He paid the bill and they finished their cheesecake and, as suggested, they walked in the direction of central park. They held hands as they talked, admiring the scenery and the beauty of the park. However, there journey was stopped short when Blaine stopped walking and turned Kurt to face him.

"Hey, do you remember this spot?" Blaine asked, nodding in the direction of the spot of grass next to them.

"How could I forget?" Kurt chuckled. It was where they had had there first date in New York. It had been quite similar to their first date, a picnic just with less fairy lights and trees. They had sat for hours, eating and talking and kissing. They had lay on the grass and looked up at the stars together and they had made out, before returning to their home, not wanting things to go too far in the middle of a public park.

"You know, that was the exact point that I realised I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. I already knew, but it just suddenly dawned on me, as I watched you that night, that one day I would marry you, and if you disagreed and dumped me one day then I could never find anyone who I would love as much as you," Blaine said, playing with Kurt's fingers in his hand.

"Well you're lucky you don't have to look because I'm not leaving anytime soon," Kurt replied with a smile.

"I kind of hoped you'd say that," Blaine smiled. He momentarily let go of Kurt's hand to reach into this pocket and retrieve a small velvet box. He took Kurt's hand again and shot him a grin before dropping to one knee.

"Oh my God," Kurt gasped. "Is this what I think it is?"

"Let's see." Blaine cleared his throat a little, drawing a small giggle from Kurt. "Kurt Elizabeth Hummel. I have been with you for 6 years now, and those 6 years have been the happiest years of my life. I didn't realise what I was missing until you came along and showed me everything I could have. You're my best friend - no matter how much Wes insists he holds that title - and you're my soulmate. We've been through thick and thin together and survived so far. I know we have so much more to come, but I also know that no matter what happens we're going to be okay. I love you more than anything and I want to be with you until the day I die. Kurt, will you marry me?" Blaine opened the box to reveal the most beautiful piece of jewellry Kurt had ever seen. It was a simple white gold band with an intricate pattern around the whole ring, like vines entwining and twisting.

"You..." Kurt managed to breathe out. Blaine smiled and nodded. Kurt immediately threw his arms around Blaine's neck and squeezed him tightly. Blaine had to hold on extra tight to the ring in order to not drop it.

"Is that a yes?" Blaine queried.

"You honestly think I'd say no? Of course it's a yes, you moron," Kurt exclaimed. He let go of Blaine and held out his hand expectantly. Blaine took the ring from the box and slid it onto Kurt's finger. "Perfect fit," Kurt commented.

"I tried my best. It would be awful if I got one that didn't fit," Blaine chuckled.

"I'm glad I have a fiance who is so smart then," Kurt said with a grin.

"Fiance," Blaine repeated. "You're my fiance. That sounds so good."

"Know what will sound better?" asked Kurt. Blaine raised his eyebrows to signal for Kurt to continue. "Husband."

"You're very much correct," Blaine grinned.

"Love you," Kurt said.

"And I love you," Blaine returned. And with that, they kissed, slowly and gently, both trying to show each other just how much love they shared. That night, they went home and put on the movie that they never planned to watch, instead preferring to spend the night kissing and cuddling and continuing to show the love they had for one another. There would come a time when they had to start phoning their friends and family to tell them the news, but that night was for them only.

Kurt and Blaine had both had a life full of soaring highs and depressing lows, but, with the help of each other, it looks like things were going to work out better than either of them could have ever imagined.


End file.
